. ■ >> 5APHC010870272015 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI s /o for THURSDAY,THE TWENTY FOURTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE -Y is .4S“ PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE NINALA JAYASURYA AND THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE TARLADA RAJASEKHAR RAO LAND ACQUISITION APPEAL SUIT NO: 23 OF 2025 Between; 1. Medikonda Ram Mohan Rao, ( C.1), S /o. Subba Naidu , Aged 57 years , agriculturist, R/o. Kothur Village, Nellore Mandal, SPSR Nellore District. 2. Modi Venkataiah, S/o. Narasaiah (C.4 ) Aged 77 years , agriculturist, R/o. Pearamakonda Village, Kaluvoya Mandal, SPSR Nellore District. 3. Medikonda Padmaiah, S/o Narasaiah (C.6) Aged 53 years , agriculturist, R/o. Dachuru Village, Kaluvoya Mandal, SPSR Nellore District. 4. Narra Janardhan, S/o Ramanaiah (C.9) Aged 59 R/o. Dachuru Village Kaluvoya Mandal, SPSR Nellore District. 5. Narra Vijayalakshmi, W/o Janardhan (C. 10) years , agriculturist. Aged 55 years , agriculturist, R/o. Dachuru Village, Kaluvoya Mandal, SPSR Nellore District. ...Appellants/Claiamants AND 1. The Special Deputy Collector, (Land Acquisition) Telugu Ganga Project, Nellore. ...Respondent/R.O. 2. Medikonda Kamalamma, (C.2), 3. Mavillapalli Ankamma, (C.3) 4. Medikonda Dhanumjayamma, (C.5 ) 5. Medikonda Kanthamma, (C.7 ) 6. Medikonda Radhaiah, (C.8 ) (Respondent Nos. 2 to 6 are not necessary parties) ...Respondents/Claimants Appeal filed under Section of Land Acquisition Act, aggrieved by the Decree and Common Judgment of the Civil Judge, Gudur (Senior Division), dated 28-04-2004 Passed in LAOP No. 112 of 1992. This appeal coming on for hearing and upon perusing the grounds of appeal, the Judgment and Decree of the trial Court and the material in the Suit and upon hearing the arguments of, Sri. Chetiuru Sreenivas behalf of the Appellant and GP For Appeals, for Respondents. This Court Doth Order and Decree as follows:- 1. That the Appeal be and is hereby Allowed in part. 2. That the enhanced compensation for each Pomegranate trees: Rs.3,000/- Lime trees; Rs.3,000/- per tree. Orange (Sweet) trees : Rs.4000/- Per tree, Palmayrah trees ; Rs.300/- per tree. Drumstick Trees ; Rs.2,000/- Per tree. 3. That the appellants directed to enhanced compensation amount. 4. That the appellants are not entitled to interest during the delay period i.e., 4135 days in preferring the appeal after disposal of the L.A.O.P. by the Civil Judge (Senior Division), Gudur. papers on tree as detailed below: pay the Court fee (if it not paid) on the r 5. That there will be no order as to costs. Sd/- E. KAMESWARA RAO JOINT REGISTRAR //TRUE COPY// SECTION OFFICER To, 1. The Civil Judge(Senior Division), Gudur. (with records) 2. Two CD Copies PR sree / HIGH COURT DATED:24/07/2025 DECREE LAAS NO. 23 OF 2025 X 24SEPM25 ^ Current Section m ALLOWING THE APPEAL IN PART WITHOUT COSTS 5APHC010870272015 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI THURSDAY,THE TWENTY FOURTH DAY OF JUL TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE NINALA JAYASURYA AND THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE TARLADA RAJASEKHAR RAO LAND ACQUISITION APPEAL SUIT NO: 23 OF 2025 Appeal filed under Section of Land Acquisition Act, aggrieved by the Decree and Common Judgment of the Civil Judge, Gudur (Senior Division), dated 28-04-2004 Passed in LAOP No. 112 of 1992. Between: 1. Medikonda Ram Mohan Rao, ( C.1), S to. Subba Naidu , Aged 57 years , agriculturist, R/o. Kothur Village, Nellore Mandal, SPSR Nellore District. 2. Modi Venkataiah, S/o. Narasaiah (C.4 ) Aged 77 years , agriculturist. R/o. Pearamakonda Village, Kaluvoya Mandal, SPSR Nellore District. 3. Medikonda Padmaiah, S/o Narasaiah (C.6) Aged 53 years , agriculturist, R/o. Dachuru Village, Kaluvoya Mandal, SPSR Nellore District. 4. Narra Janardhan, S/o Ramanaiah (C.9) Aged 59 years , agriculturist R/o. Dachuru Village Kaluvoya Mandal, SPSR Nellore District. 5. Narra Vijayalakshmi, W/o Janardhan (C. 10) Aged 55 years , agriculturist, R/o. Dachuru Village, Kaluvoya Mandal, SPSR Nellore District. ...Appellants/Claiamants AND 1. The Special Deputy Collector, (Land Acquisition) Telugu Ganga Project, Nellore. ...Respondent/R.O. 2. Medikonda Kamalamma, (C.2), 3. Mavillapalli Ankamma, (C.3) 4. Medikonda Dhanumjayamma, (C.5 ) 5. Medikonda Kanthamma, (C.7 ) 6. Medikonda Radhaiah, (C.8 ) (Respondent Nos. 2 to 6 are not necessary parties) ...Respondents/Claimants Counsel for the Petitioners: SRI CHETLURU SREENIVAS Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR APPEALS The Court made the following order: APHC010870272015 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) / [3526] / / THURSDAY,THE TWENTY FOURTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE NINALA JAYASURYA THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE TARLADA RAJASEKHAR RAO LAND ACQUISITION APPEAL SUIT NO: 23/2025 Between: 1.MED1KONDA RAM MOHAN RAO, ( C.1), S 10. SUBBA NAIDU , AGED 57 YEARS , AGRICULTURIST, R/0. KOTHUR VILLAGE, NELLORE MANUAL, SPSR NELLORE DISTRICT. 2.MODI VENKATAIAH, S/0. NARASAIAH (C.4 ) AGED 77 YEARS , AGRICULTURIST, R/0. PEARAMAKONDA VILLAGE, MANUAL, SPSR NELLORE DISTRICT. 3.. MEDIKONDA PADMAIAH, S/0 NARASAIAH (C.6) AGED 53 YEARS , AGRICULTURIST, R/0. DACHURU VILLAGE, KALUVOYA MANDAL, SPSR NELLORE DISTRICT. 4.NARRA JANARDHAN, S/0 RAMANAIAH (C.9) AGED 59 YEARS , AGRICULTURIST, R/0. DACHURU VILLAGE KALUVOYA MANDAL, SPSR NELLORE DISTRICT. KALUVOYA 5.NARRA VIJAYALAKSHMI, W/0 JANARDHAN (C. 10) AGED 55 AGRICULTURIST, R/0. DACHURU VILLAGE, KALUVOYA YEARS MANDAL, SPSR NELLORE DISTRICT. ...APPELLANT(S) AND SPECIAL DEPUTY COLLECTOR, (LAND ACQUISITION) TELUGU GANGA PROJECT, NELLORE. ... 2. MEDIKONDA KAMALAMMA, (C.2), 1.THE / 5 ■ NJS,J & TRRJ LAASNo.23 of 2025 2 \ 3.MAVILLAPALLI ANKAMMA, (C.3) 4.MEDIK0NDA DHANUMJAYAMMA, (C.5 ) 5.MEDIK0NDA KANTHAMMA, (C.7 ) 6.MED1K0NDA RADHAIAH, (C.8 ) RESPONDENT NOS. 2 TO 6 ARE NOT NECESSARY PARTIES ...RESPONDENT(S): beg to present this Memorandum of Regular appeal aggrieved by the Decree and Common Judgment of the learned Senior Civil Judge, Gudur, dated 28-04-2004 Passed in LAOP No. 112 of 1992. lA NO: 1 OF 2025 Petition under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased pleased to condone the delay of 4135 days in preferring the appeal against the Judgment and Decree dated 28-04-2004 passed in LAOP No. 112 of 1992 on the file of Honourable Senior Civil Judge, Gudur and allow the petitioners to prosecute the present appeal in the interest of justice and pass lA NO: 2 OF 2025 Petition under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased pleased to condone the delay of 3367 days in re-presenting appeal in LAAS No. 23 of 2025 in the interest of justice and pass Counsel for the Appellant(S): 1.CHETLURU SREENIVAS Counsel for the Respondent(S): 1.GP FCR APPEALS The Court made the following; NJS,J & TRR,J LAASNo.23 of 2025 3 JUDGMENT: (Per Hon’ble Sri Justice Tarlada Rajasekhar Rao) Dissatisfied with the compensation granted to the appellants by the Reference Court, for the pomegranate, lime, orange (sweet), palmayrah and drumstick trees, vide order dated 28.04.2004, in L.A.O.P.No.112 of 1992 on the file of the Senior Civil Judge, Gudur, the present L.A.A.S.No.23 of 2025 came to be filed seeking enhancement of the compensation for the trees. The land of the claimants was acquired by the respondent authorities for Kandaleru Reservoir for foreshore submersion of Telugu Ganga Project. Aggrieved by the award of the Reference Court in not fixing the compensation for trees the present land acquisition appeal is filed under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for brevity, hereinafter called as ‘the Act’) for fixation of compensation for pomegranate, lime, orange (sweet), palmayrah and drumstick trees. 2. 3. Learned counsel appearing for the appellants would submit that this Court, the composite High Court of Andhra Pradesh at .Hyderabad and the Hon’ble Apex Court have fixed the rate for pomegranate trees @ Rs.3,000/- per tree and for mango trees @ Rs.3,000/- per tree and for coconut trees @ Rs.3,000/- per tree and for sweet orange trees (cheeni trees) @ Rs.4,000/- per tree and hence urged this Court to enhance the compensation for the aforesaid trees and to pass the same orders in the present appeal. The appellants relied on the judgment of this Court in a batch of appeals, vide L.A.A.S.No.35 of 2019 and batch dated 27.09.2023 L.A.A.S.No.61 of 2022 and batch dated 05.10.2023, L.A.A.S.No.31 of 2019 dated 27.06.2019 and in L.A.A.S.No.2 of 2023 dated 04.09.2023 as also the judgment of the Hon’ble Apex Court in D.Eswara Naidu & ors. Vs. the Special Deputy Collector (LA.) in Civil Appeal No.11355 of 2018 dated 20.11.2018, the judgment of the composite High Court in The Special Deputy Collector (Land Acquisition), Somasila Project, Unit-IV, Rajampet, Kadapa, Kadapa 4. NJS,J & TRRJ \ LAAS No.23 of 2025 ^ 4 District Vs. Peddireddy Madhava Reddy and others. In the above said judgments, the compensation was fixed @ Rs.3,000/- per each pomegranate, mango tree, acid lime tree, coconut tree, guava, jack-fruit and sapota (sapodilla) and also the trees i.e., drumstick and neredu (black-plum). So far as the tamarind and soap-nut are concerned, the Court has fixed Rs.6,000/- and Rs.5,000/- respectively for each tree. 5. Learned counsel for the appellants further relied on the judgment of this Court in L.A.A.S.No.28 of 2019 and batch dated 05.11.2019, L.A.A.S.No.61 of 2023, L.A.A.S.No.63 of 2022 and the judgment in Pidugu Kondala Rayudu v. Special Deputy Collector, Land Acquisition, Telugu Ganga Project Unit, Kadapa reported in (2012) 12 SCC 848. In D. Eswara Naidu & Ors., versus The Special Deputy Collector(L.A.) (in Civil Appeal No. 11355 of 2018) dated 20.11.2018 reported in (2019) 13 SCC 785, the Hon’ble Supreme Court, inter alia held as follows; “The issue raised in these appeals pertains to the claim made by the appellants for enhancement of compensation for pomegranate trees, which stood in the land acquired for the purpose of Somashila/Telugu Ganga Project. The notifications in these cases have been issued on different dates between 1990 to 1994. The appellants had been granted compensation at the rate of Rs.2000/- per Pomegranate Tree. We find from Civil Appeal Nos.11404-11405 of 2016 that this Court has fixed compensation at the rate of Rs.3,000/- per pomegranate tree, as against the Rs.2000/- fixed by the High Court, in respect of the acquisition for the same project, for which notification was issued in the year 1994. Having regard to the entire facts and circumstances of the case, we are of the view that it would be just, reasonable and proper to fix the compensation at the rate of Rs.3,000/- per NJS,J & TRR,J LAASNo.23 of 2025 5 Pomegranate Tree. Therefore, these appeals are disposed of with the following directions: (i) The appellants shall be entitled to compensation at the rate of Rs.3,000/- (Rupees Three Thousand) per Pomegranate Tree along with all statutory benefits. (ii) However, they shall not be entitled to statutory interest for the period of delay in approaching this Court or the High Court.” In Civil Appeal No.2947 of 2022, the Hon’ble Apex Court has fixed compensation for the pomegranate trees @ Rs.3,000/- per tree, following the judgment of the Hon’ble Apex Court in D.Eswara Naidu & ors Vs. The Special Deputy Collector (LA.) (referred supra), in Civil Appeal No.11355 of 2018, in respect of the very same project. 6. Learned Government Pleader for Appeals contends that the trees existed were pre-bearing trees (plants) and accordingly the value was fixed by the Land Acquisition Officer and the Reference Court has rightly answered the said issue and stated that the appellants are not entitled for the enhancement of compensation on the basis of the judgments relied on by the learned counsel for the appellants, as they are pre-bearing trees. Hence, urged this Court to dismiss the appeal. 7. The appellant's counsel has cited a recent decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Mallamputi Ratnamma (Died) by L.R. vs. The Special Deputy Collector (Land Acquisition), rendered in C.A.No.2557 of 2024 on 26.07.2024. In this judgment, the Hon’ble Supreme Court stated that landowners whose properties have been expropriated are entitled to compensation of Rs.3,000/- per pomegranate tree. For whatever reason, the Supreme Court had framed two additional questions in the order in the Special Leave Petition, pertaining to the actual number of pomegranate trees present, and (ii) the number of such trees per acre that were acquired and to resolve 8. NJS,J & TRR,J LAAS No. 23 of 2025 6 these questions, which also as the land acquisition court, while serves providing a fair opportunity for all parties to be heard specifically directing the Reference Court not to raise any objections regarding limitation. 9. Learned counsel for the appellants also mentioned that some of the claimants had directly approached the Hon’ble Apex Court through Civil Appeal No(s).4314/2024 or SLP (Civil No. 12395/2024) with application I.A.No.193948 of 2024, seeking a direction to refer to the Lok Adaiat for the resolution of land acquisition compensation. The said request was made in response to the communication dated 27.08.2024, issued by the Special Collector of the Telugu Ganga Project, Nellore, sought in the present appeal before this court. The Apex Court request and directed the claimants to resolve their issue before the Lok Adaiat. The order dated 13.09.2024 is outlined below: concerning similar relief as granted the “Having considered the above, as the present matter pertains to claim for enhancement of compensation for the Pomegranate on Nellore District land, acquired from the applicant(s) 193948 of 2024 and the main matter stand disposed of, vide order dated 13.09.2024, by permitting the through the Lok Adaiat proceedings in the Court at Nellore the proceedings proposed by the Special Collector, in his communication dated 27.08.2024.” trees the lA No. parties to settle their dispute as per 10. Following the direction of the Hon’ble Apex Court in SLP (Civil No. 12395/2024), the District Lok Adaiat Bench in Nellore has passed award vide order dated 05.07.2025, to an pay compensation for the trees and also directed to pay compensation for structures and other trees. The appellant's counsel fairly stated though the fixation of the compensation for the award is silent about specific pomegranate and other trees, but the per tree but requested to grant per pomegranate and coconut trees, contending that the Lok compensation was fixed at Rs.2,800/- Rs.3,000/- NJS,J & TRR,J LAASNo.23 of 2025 7 Adalat award is a consent award and it cannot be relied upon. As argued by the appellant’s counsel and it is well established that a consent award should not be the basis for the passing of the award on merit. In the judgment of the Hon’ble Apex Court in D.Eswara Naidu & ors Vs. The Special Deputy Collector (LA.) (referred supra) in Civil Appeal No.11355 of 2018, the Hon’ble Apex Court has fixed the rate for the pomegranate trees and other trees for the very same Somasila/Telugu Ganga Project @ Rs.3,000/- for pomegranate tree as against Rs.2,000/- and held that the appellants are entitled to compensation @ Rs.3,000/- for pomegranate and coconut trees along with all statutory benefits and also further observed that appellants are not entitled to statutory interest for the period of delay in approaching the High Court. 11. Learned Government Pleader for Appeals has disputed about the number of trees. Therefore, this Court is inclined to allow the appeal on fair admission made by the learned counsel for the appellants that the compensation may be enhanced as per the number of trees as identified by the Land Acquisition Officer in the award, as the appellants have not insisted for grant of compensation for the number of trees which is pleaded by the appellants in the appeal. Therefore, it is made clear that the appellants are entitled to compensation for the total number of trees as identified by the Land Acquisition Officer in the award and not as the total number of trees as the appellants claimed in the Reference Court. 12. As the claim is only with regard to the trees, the present appeal is allowed in part, enhancing the compensation for each tree as detailed below: 13. Pomegranate trees; Rs.3,000/- per tree Lime trees: Rs.3,000/-per tree Orange (sweet) trees: Rs.4,000/- per tree NJS,J & TRRJ LAAS No.23 of 2025 0\ \ 8 Palmayrah trees: Rs.300/- per tree Drumstick trees: Rs.2,000/- per tree The appeilants shall pay the Court fee (if it not paid) on the enhanced compensation amount. The appellants are not entitled to interest during the delay period i.e.. 4135 days in preferring the appeal after disposal of the L.A.O.P. by the Reference Court. There shall be no order as to costs. As a sequel, interlocutory applications pending, if any, in this case shall stand closed. 14. Sd/- E. KAMESWARA RAO JOINT R^I^TRAR //TRUE COPY// SECTION OFFICER To, 1. The Civil Judge(Senior Division), Gudur. (with 2. One CC to Sri. Chetiuru Sreenivas, Advocate [OPUC] 3. Two CCs to GP For Appeals, High Court of Andhra i 4. The Section Officer, V.R. Section, High Court of Andhra 5. Two CD Copies records) Pradesh [OUT] j Pradesh. PR sree HIGH COURT DATED:24/07/2025 JUDGMENT + DECREE LAAS NO. 23 OF 2025 ■5?and«^ X 2II SEP 2025 „ ^ Current'Section m ALLOWING THE APPEAL IN PART WITHOUT COSTS