THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE NOUSHAD ALI WRIT PETITION No.2716 of 2006 Date: 08.12.2010 Between : V. Venkata Krishna .… Petitioner and The Government of Andhra Pradesh, Rep.by its Principal Secretary, Revenue Department, Secretariat, Hyderabad and others. …. Respondents THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE NOUSHAD ALI WRIT PETITION No.2716 of 2006 ORDER : The petitioner, whose land was acquired pursuant to the notification, dated 25.10.1995, issued under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for brevity “the Act”), has filed this writ petition declaring the action of the respondents in not paying compensation in respect of the lands in Sy.Nos.48/9B, 48/10B and 48/12A and not referring the matter to the civil Court under Section 18 of the Act in respect of the lands in Sy.Nos.47/2B and 48/11A, pursuant to the award No.6/96-97, dated 11.8.1996, as arbitrary and illegal. 2. Various extents of land belonging to the petitioner in Sy.Nos.47/2B, 48/11A, 48/9B, 48/10B and 48/12A, situated in Nandimangalam village, Puttur Mandal, Chittoor District, was acquired by the Land Acquisition Officer vide Award No.6/96-97, dated 11.8.1996. Pursuant to the said award, the amount payable in respect of the land in Sy.Nos.47/2B and 48/11A has been paid to the petitioner. It is the grievance of the petitioner that although the award was passed to an extent of 0.07 cents in Sy.No.48/9B, 0.21 cents in Sy.No.48/10B, and 0.01 cents in Sy.No.48/12A, the compensation has not been paid in respect of the said land. Aggrieved by the same the present writ petition has been filed. 3. When the matter came up for hearing on earlier occasion, as the reasons for not paying the compensation were not clear, this Court called for the records and accordingly the relevant records are produced before this Court today. 4. From a perusal of the award proceedings and also the counter affidavit filed by the respondents, it could be seen that the petitioner though appeared during the award proceedings, could not produce the necessary documents to the satisfaction of the Land Acquisition Officer to enable him to make payments in respect of the above said lands. That apart, in respect of the very same survey numbers, there appears to be another claimant, by name K.Nagamma. Under those circumstances, the Land Acquisition Officer, initially referred the matter to the Court of Senior Civil Judge, Puttur, under Section 31 of the Act, on 19.4.2001. It is also stated since the original award was not enclosed along with the reference, the file was returned on 4.6.2001 and the same was represented on 23.11.2003, and now the matter is still pending before the said Court. 5. In view of the categorical statement made by the respondents in the counter affidavit, the petitioner cannot be granted any relief in this writ petition. However, the petitioner can approach the civil Court and seek appropriate relief. 6. Further, so far as the request of the petitioner to refer the matter to the civil Court under Section 18 of the Act is concerned, a perusal of the record discloses that no such application has been made to the Land Acquisition Officer as required under law. The petitioner also does not assert nor has stated in the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition that he had sought for reference by filing an application as required under law. Under those circumstances, the Land Acquisition Officer is under no obligation to refer the matter to the civil Court under Section 18 of the Act. 7. For the foregoing reasons, the writ petition is devoid of any merit and the same is liable to be dismissed. 8. Accordingly, the writ petition is dismissed. There shall be no order as to costs. ________________________ JUSTICE NOUSHAD ALI 08.12.2010. Msr THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE NOUSHAD ALI WRIT PETITION No.2716 of 2006 08.12.2010 (Msr)