IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE P.V.SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO : 3085 of 2001 Between: 1 Asodi Brahma Reddy, S/o Jali Reddy, Madanuru Village, Kothapatnam Mandal, Prakasam District. 2 Asodi Ravi Kumari W/o Brahma Reddy, Madanuru Village, Kothapatnam Mandal, Prakasam District. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The Asst. Director of Mines, Mines Department, Prakasam District, Ongole 2 The Mandal Revenue Officer, Kothapatnam Mandal, Prakasam District 3 The Revenue Divisional Officer, Ongole, Prakasam District. 4 The District Collector, Prakasam District, Ongole .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court will be pleased to issue a writ, order or direction particularly one in the nature of a writ of Mandamus, declaring the action of the 1st respondent without issuing any notice, without following the procedure, forcibly entering in to the petitioners land to an extent of Ac.1.62, 0.41, 1.47 in R.S. No.597/6 597/7,598/1 respectively situated at Madunuru Village Kothapatnam Mandal, Prakasam District, and the 2nd petitioner is concerned of the land to an extent of Ac.0.82 1/2 Cts. in R.S.No.824/2 of Ethamukkala Village, Kothapatnam Mandal, Prakasam District, is illegal, arbitrary, and violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India and consequently to direct the respondents not to dispossess the petitioners from their lands, and to pass Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.S.S.VARMA Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR INDUSTRIES & COMMERCE The Court made the following : ORAL ORDER: This writ petition is ﬁled apprehending that the lands of the ﬁrst petitioner in RS Nos.597/6, 597/7 and 598/1 situated at Madunuru village, Kothapatnam Mandal, Prakasam District and the land of the second petitioner in RS No. 824/2 of Ethamukkala Village, Kothapatnam Mandal, Prakasam District, would be acquired without following the procedure laid down by law for the construction of a shipyard. It is stated by the petitioners in their aﬃdavit that they made a representation in this regard to the authorities and were under the impression that the same would be considered favourably. But, to their utter shock and surprise, the Assistant Director of Mines, Prakasam District, entered upon their lands along with his staﬀ and hoisted ﬂags, symbolizing that the lands would be acquired. The complaint of the petitioners is that no steps have been initiated under the Land Acquisition Act for acquiring the lands and, accordingly, they sought for an order in the nature of mandamus, that without issuing notice, the ﬁrst respondent should be interdicted from entering upon their lands or dispossessing them. The ﬁrst respondent ﬁled a counter aﬃdavit stating to the eﬀect that the writ petition was misconceived inasmuch as there was no concrete proposal for acquiring the lands belonging to the petitioners for the construction of a shipyard. It is stated that an inspection was carried out and ﬂags were hoisted in connection with the identiﬁcation of the lands. It is further stated that the selection of the site was still under consideration and there was no proposal for acquisition of the subject lands at that time. It is further stated that as and when a decision is taken, necessary action would be initiated under the Land Acquisition Act. In the light of the statement made in the counter aﬃdavit, it is clear that the authorities are mindful of the fact that they are required to follow the due procedure laid down by law for acquiring the lands of the petitioners in the event the same are required for a public purpose. In the light of this statement in the counter aﬃdavit, it is clear that there was no cause of action for the petitioners to approach this Court. The writ petition is, therefore, devoid of merits and is accordingly dismissed. No order as to costs. _____________________ Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar September 15, 2008 MAS ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1.2CCs to 2.2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{SAM}