IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE FIFTH DAY OF AUGUST TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO : 6519 of 2008 Between: 1 Venkat Reddy S/o. Huzur R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 2 Bheemeshwar Reddy S/o.Venkat REddy R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 3 Sayanna S/o.Linganna R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 4 Venkat REddy S/o.Chinna Lakshmanna R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 5 Chinna Ashanna S/o.Sayanna R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 6 Pedda Hanumanthu S/o.Pedda Ashanna R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 7 Venkat Reddy S/o.Hanumaiah R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 8 M.Ranga Reddy S/o.Venkat Reddy R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 9 Madhava Reddy S/o.Thimma Reddy R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 10 Chukka Parsappa S/o.Thippaiah R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 11 Chakali Hanumanthu S/o.Narsanna R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 12 Manga Narsamma W/o.Basi Reddy R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 13 Venkat Reddy S/o.Thippanna R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 14 Narsimlu S/o.Sayann R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 15 Narsamma W/o.Bheemanna R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 16 Ambuja Rani W/o.Seetharamchary R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 17 Laxminarayana S/o.Mallappa R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 18 Pedda Ashi Reddy S/o. Narsappa R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 19 Pedda Chinna Reddy S/o.Rayappa R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 20 Venkatamma S/o.Satyan Reddy R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 21 Chinna Reddy S/o.Kurma Reddy R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 22 Ranganath S/o.Nagappa R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 23 Ramesh S/o.hanumanthu R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 24 M.Ranga Reddy S/o.Venkat Reddy R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 25 G.Hanumanthu S/o.Sayanna R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 26 Pedda Sayanna S/o.Chotanna R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 27 Besi Reddy S/o.Masumanna R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 28 Venkatanna S/o.Amanna R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District 29 Shivanna S/o.Thayappa R/o.Erladinne village Narva Mandal Mahaboobnagar District ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 Government of AP., rep.by its Secretary(ICAD) Project Wing Department, AP Hyderabad 2 The Chief Engineer, Major Irrigation & CAD Department AP., Hyderabad 3 The Superintendent Engineer, PJP Circle No.1 Gadwal,Mahaboobnagar District 4 The Executive Engineer,LA Divison, PJP Gadwal Mahaboobnagar District 5 The Special Collector, Srisailam Project Kurnool 6 The Special Deputy Collector, (LA Unit) PJP Gadwal, Mahaboobnagar District .....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 more particularly one in the nature of writ of mandamus declaring the action of the respondent authorities in not paying compensation in respect of 33 wells which were deleted by way of administration instructions on the ground that separate award will be passed as arbitrary, illegal, and violative of principles of natural justice further direct the authorities to pay compensation amount to the petitioners herein as was done in case of the persons whose lands and wells were submerged and in respect of whom an award was passed bearing Award No.21/1993 dated 7.6.1993 was passed and directions issued in Writ petition No.25026/1997 dated 11.7.2006 were complied with. Counsel for the Petitioners : MR. HARENDER PRASAD Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR LAND ACQUISITION The Court made the following : THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G. ROHINI WRIT PETITION No.6519 OF 2008 ORDER : The lands of the petitioners situated in Erladinne Village of Narva Mandal of Mahaboobnagar District were acquired under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, ‘the Act’) for the purpose of submergence under Priyadarshini Joorala Project. It is not in dispute that Award No.19/1993, was passed by the Special Deputy Collector, Land Acquisition Unit, Priyadarshini Joorala Project, Gadwala on 30.3.1993 ﬁxing the compensation and the same was also paid to the petitioners. However, the petitioners alleged that the structures, pipelines and etc. existing on the lands acquired were not taken into consideration by the Land Acquisition Oﬃcer while ﬁxing the value and consequently no compensation was paid in respect of the same. It is claimed by the petitioners that for the purpose of irrigating the lands they got dug about 33 wells in the lands in question in respect of which they cannot be denied compensation. It is also the case of the petitioners that in similar circumstances award No.21/1993, dated 7.6.1993 was passed in respect of certain other lands situated in Erladinne Village granting compensation in respect of agricultural wells also. In the counter-aﬃdavit ﬁled on behalf of the respondents 1, 5 and 6 though the fact that the lands of the petitioners along with structures, trees and wells were acquired for submergence under the Priyadarshini Joorala Project is not disputed, it is stated that the compensation for the wells could not be included in the awards since the rates of the same were not decided by the Board of Chief Engineers as per the instructions of the Government. I have heard the learned counsel for both the parties. At the outset, it is to be noted that some of the similarly situated persons whose lands were acquired for the very same purpose of submergence under Priyadarshini Joorala Project ﬁled W.P.No.25026 of 1997 and this Court disposed of the said writ petition with a direction to pay the exgratia amount to the petitioners therein by passing a supplementary award within a period of two months. The land which is the subject-matter of the said writ petition is also situated in Erladinne Village of Narva Mandal of Mahaboobnagar District. The claim of the petitioners therein for payment of exgratia for agricultural wells was upheld by this Court on the basis of G.O.Rt.No.332, Irrigation & Command Area Development (Projects Wing TGP.III), Department, dated 20.5.1996 and accordingly the Writ Petition was disposed of to pay exgratia amount as sanctioned in G.O..Rt.No.332, dated 20.5.1996 to the petitioners therein by passing a supplementary award, if necessary. The only contention raised by the respondents in this writ petition is that the said G.O.Rt.No.332, dated 20.5.1996 was conﬁned only in respect of the petitioners in W.P.No.25026 of 1997 and therefore the said beneﬁt cannot be extended to the petitioners herein. As noticed above, the petitioners herein are also similarly situated and the existence of agricultural wells in their lands is not in dispute. It is also not in dispute that the petitioners’ lands were acquired for the very same purpose of submergence under Priyadarshini Joorala Project. In the circumstances, there is absolutely no justiﬁable reason to deny the payment of exgratia to the petitioners herein for the agricultural wells as provided under G.O.Rt.No.332, dated 20.5.1996. Accordingly, the Writ Petition is disposed of with a direction to the respondents to pay the exgratia amount to the petitioners herein on par with the petitioners in W.P.No.25026 of 1997 by passing a supplementary award, if necessary, as expeditiously as possible preferably within a period of three months from the date of receipt of this order. No costs. ______________ G. ROHINI, J. Dt. 05.08.2008 gbs