Hyderabad High Court on Thursday, expressing concern over the delay by Andhra Pradesh government, directed the latter to file a status report by Tuesday furnishing details of rehabilitation and resettlement work related to 600 land acquisition matters.
The direction was given by a Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Judge Ramesh Ranganathan and Judge K. Vijaya Lakshmi while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by V. Venkateshwarlu of AP Vyavasaya Karmikula Sangham.
The petition claimed that the State government had neglected rehabilitation of land owners, despite the Land Acquisition Act-2013 making it mandatory. As per the Act, the State has to rehabilitate even landless persons of a village affected by land acquisition.
When the case was heard on November 21, 2017, AP Advocate General Dammalapati Srinivas had sought time to present the details. He had assured the Division Bench that he would ensure authorities followed the Act in-toto. The Division Bench had given the AG four months to present the status report, which expired on March 21.
On Thursday, the Bench sought to know the progress in rehabilitation of land owners. The AG said rehabilitation was ongoing and would soon be completed, once the survey of the affected families is over.
The Bench expressed dissatisfaction over the inability of the officials to comply with its direction within the time frame.
