CHAVA LAKSHMAMMA Vs. SPECIAL DEPUTY COLLECTOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of Constitution of India seeking to declare the action of the respondents in not paying the compensation amounts to the petitioners for acquired land, as laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the cases reported in (K.Krishna Reddy and others Vs. Special Deputy Collector, Land Acquisition Unit II, Karimnagar, 1988 AIR(SC) 2123 and in (Premji Nathu Vs. State of Gurajat and other, 2012 AIR(SC) 1624 ) as illegal, arbitrary and against the provisions of a welfare legislation, namely, Land Acquisition Act, and violative of rights of the petitioners enshrined under Articles 14, 21, 300-A of the Constitution of India and direct the respondents to pay compensation to the petitioners.

(2.) The grievance of the petitioners in the present writ petition is that the respondents have not taken any steps to deposit/pay the enhanced compensation amounts for the land acquired from the petitioners and therefore sought a direction to the respondents to deposit/pay the compensation to the petitioners. The petitioners' lands in different extents as mentioned in the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition, were acquired for the foreshore submersion construction of Kandaleru Reservoir under Telugu Ganga Project, pursuant to notification dated 10.8.1988 issued by respondents. The Land Acquisition Officer passed an award on 31.8.1989 and on a reference in L.A.O.P.No.37 of 1990, a judgment was passed on 07.9.2012, enhancing the compensation. Against the same, the petitioners preferred an appeal to the High Court in L.A.A.S.No.238 of 2017 and the compensation was further enhanced vide common Judgment dated 13.10.2017. The State aggrieved by the said enhancement, carried the matter by way of a Special Leave petition vide SLP(Civil) Diary No.21072 of 2018 and the Hon'ble Supreme Court dismissed the said SLP filed by the State on 27.7.2018. Thus, the compensation payable to the petitioners has been confirmed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court. Despite the said position, the compensation has not been paid to the petitioners, till today.

(3.) The learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the respondents even after lapse of two years failed to deposit/pay compensation to the petitioners which has attained finality by virtue of the order of Hon'ble Apex Court. He states that the petitioners are discriminated in as much as some of the claimants whose lands were acquired along with the petitioners' lands have been paid compensation, however due to reasons not known to the petitioners, they were not paid compensation so far. The learned counsel also states that the claimants, in respect of whom orders were passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the year 2018 have received the compensation. The learned counsel states that due to discrimination as well as non payment of the compensation, the petitioners are seriously prejudiced and under those circumstances, the petitioners are constrained to approach this Court.