VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court upheld the single judge bench verdict that DKT Patta holders are eligible for compensation and not just ex gratia and they have to be paid compensation on par with private land holders. The court dismissed the writ petition filed by the Telugu Ganga Land Acquisition Special Collector challenging the single judge bench verdict.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice R Raghunandan Rao, while hearing the appeal recently made it clear that those who secured assigned lands from the government and have DKT Pattas are eligible for compensation on par with private land holders.
It further said even those who cultivate lands under Common Joint Farming Scheme (CJFS) are also equally eligible like DKT Patta holders. It dismissed the government argument that as DKT Patta is temporary and comes with conditions, the DKT Patta holders are only eligible for ex-gratia and not compensation.
The government was directed to compensate the assign land holders on par with private land holders, who lost their lands due to Kandaleru Reservoir, which is part of the Telugu Ganga Project.
In 1978, Madde Ramaiah and three others were given 6.19 acres of assigned lands under different survey numbers in Gundavolu in Nellore district. The DKT lands were cultivated by those four farmers. They were told that in future, if the lands are take only ex-gratia will be paid.
Later, for the construction of Kandaleru, those lands were taken and only ex-gratia was paid. However, the assignees approached the High Court in 2009 and in 2022, single judge bench of Justice G Ramakrishna Prasad gave verdict in their favour.