IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE TWENTY NINTH OF OCTOBER TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GHULAM MOHAMMED and THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE G.V.SEETHAPATHY A.S.No.1518 of 1999 Between: Land Acquisition Officer-cum- Mandal Revenue Officer, Konijerla. ..... Appellant AND Poludas Srinivasa Rao. .....Respondent JUDGMENT: (Per Sri Justice Ghulam Mohammed,J) The Land Acquisition Officer-cum-Mandal Revenue Officer, Konijerla, has preferred this appeal under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short ‘the Act’), against the order and decree dated 11.02.1999 in O.P.No.155 of 1989 on the file of the Senior Civil Judge, Khammam. 2. The facts, in brief, are as follows: The Land Acquisition Officer issued a notification under Section 4(1) of the Act for acquisition of lands in Mekalakunta Village for providing house sites to the villagers. The said notification was published in the District Gazette on 01.04.1988 and in the local newspaper on 21.04.1988. As per the said notification, the land of an extent of Acs.1.02 gts in Sy.No.408/2C belonging to the respondent, was acquired for the said purpose. The Land Acquisition Officer, after following the procedure prescribed under law, passed award, dated 15.05.1989 and fixed the market value of the acquired land at Rs.10,500/-per acre and awarded solatium at 30% and interest at 9% for one year from the date of taking possession i.e., 12.02.1988 and thereafter at 15%. Dissatisfied with the said award, the respondent/claimant sought for a reference under Section 18 of the Act to the civil Court to determine the just compensation. Accordingly, the same has been referred by the Land Acquisition Officer, for determination of the market value of the said acquired land and it was taken on file by the learned Senior Civil Judge, Khammam as O.P.No.155 of 1989. 3. The learned Senior Civil Judge clubbed O.P.No.155 of 1989 along with other OPs and conducted common trial. In order to establish the claim of the claimants in all the O.Ps i.e., L.A.O.P.Nos. 154 of 1989 and batch, PWs.1 to 6 were examined and Exs.A1 to A8 were marked. On behalf of the appellant, RW1 was examined and Ex.B-1 was marked. 4. The learned Senior Civil Judge, Khammam, having observed that the acquired lands are situated abutting the main road and as per Exs.A5 to A8 and the evidence of R.W.1, those lands are useful for house sites, enhanced the market value from Rs.10,500/- to Rs.21,000/- for the acquired land in Sy.No.408/2C besides all statutory benefits available under law. Hence, the present appeal. 5. Learned Government Pleader for Land Acquisition contended that the Court below ought to have enhanced the compensation relying upon the sale deeds Exs.A5 to A8. 6. Heard the learned Government Pleader for Land Acquisition and the learned counsel for the respondent-claimant. 7. We have perused the order under appeal. It is to be noticed that the land in question was acquired for providing house sites to the villagers of Mekalakunta. As per Exs.A5 to A8-registered copies of sale deeds, the lands were sold at Rs.40,000/-per acre. The lands covered by Exs.A5 to A8 relates to the house sites, situated near the village, where the market value is more than the agricultural land. The said documents were come into existence much prior to the date of notification and that the acquired lands are situated abutting the main road. Therefore, the learned Senior Civil Judge, Khammam, upon appreciation of both oral and documentary evidence available on record, has rightly enhanced the compensation of the acquired land from Rs.10,500/- to Rs.21,000/-per acre. Since the Court below has given cogent and convincing reasons for the said enhancement, which is based on proper perspective, we do not find any merit in the order under appeal warranting interference by this Court. 8. The appeal is, accordingly, dismissed. There shall be no order as to costs. _____________________ GHULAM MOHAMMED,J ____________________ G.V. SEETHAPATHY, J Date:29.10.2009 sj