Telangana High Court
Vakiti Ganganna vs The State Of Telangana on 7 September, 2021
Bench: K.Lakshman
THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE K.LAKSHMAN
WRIT PETITION No.21535 OF 2021
ORDER:
Heard Sri Ajgal Ravi Babu, learned counsel for the petitioner,
learned Government Pleader for Irrigation & Command Area
Development, learned Government Pleader for Finance & Planning and
learned Government Pleader for Land Acquisition for the respondents.
With their consent, this Writ Petition is disposed of at the stage of
admission itself.
2. Aggrieved by the inaction of the respondents in depositing the
decretal amount to the credit of E.P.No.20 of 2019 in OP No.15
of 2011 on the file of the learned Senior Civil Judge at Gadwal,
Jogulamba Gadwal District, the present writ petition is filed.
3. Learned Government Pleader, on instructions, has stated
that the official respondents are taking necessary steps to deposit
the amounts and that as and when the amounts are received, the
authorities will deposit the compensation amount.
4. As can be seen from the record, the notification under
Section 4 (1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, was issued way back
on 21.11.2009 and the Award was passed on 27.03.2010.
Subsequently, the compensation amount was enhanced fixing the
market value of the property at Rs.123/- per sq.yard and the amount
determined and awarded by the Land Acquisition Officer, by virtue
of the order and decree dated 10.10.2018 passed in OP No.15 of 2011
by the learned Senior Civil Judge, Gadwal, and the said order has
become final as no appeal was preferred questioning the same.
5. Having regard to the above backdrop of the case, this Court
is of the considered view that the authorities cannot take their own
time to deposit the amounts which are already enhanced by the
competent Court. The inaction of the respondents in paying the
enhanced compensation amounts in time to the petitioner, who
is already suffering from the loss of his land, would make him
also to suffer untold hardship and misery and run from pillar to
post for getting the enhanced compensation deposited and incur
expenses for the same. The petitioner will also have to incur additional
expenditure for approaching the Court for seeking the required
relief. With the rising inflation, the value of the money will also
go down and the delayed payment of the enhanced compensation
will result in the compensation amount itself losing all the charm
and utility. If the petitioner or similarly situated persons receive
the enhanced compensation within the time, they will be in a
position to use that amount in some other investments and get
some returns over the same.
6. Further, in BHIMIDIPATI ANNAPOORNA BHAVANI V/s.
LAND ACQUISITION OFFICERi, while dealing with similar issue, the
Larger Bench of this Court has held as under:
"One of the self-imposed restrictions is that High Court
generally refrains from entertaining a writ petition when there
is adequate and efficacious alternate remedy available to a
party, and, when such alternate remedy available is a statutory
remedy, such statutory remedy has been duly exhausted.
Availability of such alternate and efficacious or statutory
remedy itself is not a bar in entertaining a writ
petition in the given facts and circumstances. We need not
multiply the circumstances in which such discretionary power
may be exercised by the Court in such matters despite
availability of such alternate, adequate and efficacious remedy.
But the limits as noticed in B.GOVINDA REDDY's case supra
by a learned Single Judge of this Court are sufficient that in
cases arising out of the Act where the amount of
compensation, finally determined has not been paid, a person
must first resort to the alternate efficacious remedy of taking
out execution and when despite taking out execution
proceedings, if there is any delay caused on the part of
authorities, resort can be had to filing of a
writ petition in this Court and, this Court, while exercising its
discretionary jurisdiction, in appropriate cases, may issue
directions for immediate deposit of the amount of compensation
by the State Government or the authorities on whose behalf the
land has been acquired."
7. At this stage, learned Government Pleader for Land
Acquisition sought four months time from today to deposit the amount
to the credit of the E.P.
8. For the afore-stated reasons and the law laid down by the
Larger Bench of this Court in the above referred judgment, the
official respondents are directed to deposit the enhanced
compensation amount, in terms of the order and decree dated
10.10.2018 passed in OP No.15 of 2011 by the learned Senior Civil
Judge, Gadwal, to the credit of E.P.No.20 of 2019, as expeditiously as
possible, preferably, within a period of two months from the date of
receipt of a copy of this order.
9. Accordingly, the Writ Petition is disposed of. There shall be no
order as to costs.
10. Miscellaneous Petitions pending in this writ petition, if any,
shall stand closed in the light of this final order.
_________________
K.LAKSHMAN, J
Date: 07.09.2021
vvr
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2005 (3) ALD 233 (LB)
