IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE NAGESH BHEEMAPAKA WRIT PETITION No. 22802 OF 2024

07.04.2026 Between:

Muvva Jyothi & others ….. Petitioners And The Union of India, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, New Delhi & others.

….. Respondents

O R D E R:

The case of petitioners is that they are the absolute owners and possessors of various extents of lands situated at V. Venkatayapalem, Khammam District, comprising specific survey numbers and plot numbers, details of which are as follows:

(1) Muvva Jyothi, W/o Nagaeswara Rao, aged 50 years, land in Sy.No. 246/El, Plot Nos. 15 and 16 admeasuring 424.00 square yards; (2) Kadiyala Venkateswarlu, C/o Buchaiah, aged 68 years, land in Sy.No. 253/A, Plot Nos. 66 and 67 admeasuring 440.00 square yards; (3) Chava Rama Linga Vara Prasad, S/o Narsaiah, aged 69 years, land in Sy.Nos. 253/A and 254/A, Plot No. 1 admeasuring 1200.00 square yards; (4) Regalla Raja Reddy, C/o Regalla Ranga Reddy, aged about 55 years, land in Sy.No. 248/E, Plot Nos. 119 and 120 admeasuring 330.00 square yards; (5) Sayed Shahira, W/o Sadhik, aged 35 years, land in Sy.Nos. 248/E1, 251/A1, 248/E2, 251/A2 and 251/A3, Plot No. 21 admeasuring 240.00 square yards; (6) Mohammad Fouzia Parveen, W/o Apsar, aged 54 years, land in Sy.No. 253/A, Plot Nos. 35, 36, 69 and 70, each admeasuring 220.00 square yards, totalling 880.00 square yards; (7) Alla Rama Rao, S/o Narayana, aged 67 years, land in Sy.No. 253/A, Plot No. 17 admeasuring 220.00 square yards; (8) Lakkineni Satyanarayana, S/o Kishaiah, aged 70 years, land in Sy.No. 253/A, Plot No. 21 admeasuring 220.00 square yards; (9) Vadlamudi Vijay, S/o Rama Rao, aged 35 years, land in Sy No. 253/A, Plot No. 65 admeasuring 220.00 square yards, and (10) Macha Ramesh, C/o Chalamaiah, aged 56 years, land in Sy.No.

248/A, Plot No. 165 admeasuring 201.00 square yards.

1.1 Petitioners further contend that the impugned Greenfield Highway alignment forms part of Nagpur to Vijayawada NH-163G corridor and that the said alignment was approved by the National Highways Authority of India on 03.01.2019 and thereafter, by the Land Acquisition Committee on 20.08.2020, and since then successive notifications under Section 3A(1) of the National Highways Act, 1956 (for short ‘the Act’) have been issued, culminating in the present impugned Gazette Notification No. S.O. 909 (E), dated 26.02.2024.

1.2. It is stated, petitioners have been subjected to continuous uncertainty, hardship and mental agony for nearly six years commencing from the first notification dated 03.01.2019 till the issuance of the impugned notification dated 26.02.2024, thereby causing grave prejudice to their property rights and preventing any meaningful utilization or development of their lands. The District Collector, Khammam, by the letter dated 17.05.2022 addressed through the Chief Secretary to the concerned authorities, specifically pointed out that the impugned alignment was finalized without consultation with local authorities including Khammam Municipality, Roads and Buildings Department and Gram Panchayats, and further highlighted that the State Government had paid Rs.1 Crore per acre in 2018 for construction of the new Collectorate, thereby indicating that cost of acquisition under the impugned alignment would be exorbitantly high, and also brought to the notice that the State Government had already planned a ring road for Khammam and sanctioned Rs.200 crores for land acquisition.

1.3. Petitioners further contend that the Member of Parliament, Khammam Parliamentary Constituency, Sri Nama Nageswara Rao, by letter dated 11.11.2022 addressed to the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, requested that impugned alignment be shifted by at least five kilometers in view of the State Government's master plan for development of Khammam and the proposed ring road. Several similarly- situated land losers have approached this Court in Writ Petitions No. 3921 of 2023, 20359 of 2023, 91