HYDERABAD, Nov 14: A division bench of the Sindh High Court Hyderabad circuit here on Wednesday directed the managing director of Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (SIDA) and the executive engineer of Thar division, Mirpurkhas, to personally appear before the court on Nov 20 in two separatse constitutional petitions, claiming compensation of the land acquisition award amounting to more than Rs1.1 million.

The petitions were filed by Syed Khadim Hussain Shah and Syed Ghulam Shah through Ghulam Rasool Qureshi, advocate.

They have prayed the court for the payment of compensation of Rs8,28,000 and Rs3,03,812, respectively, for their lands acquired by the respondents.

They claimed that their lands were acquired by respondents along with many other Khatedars for public purpose i.e. re- alignment of the Nara Canal in Deh Kala, Sanghar district, adding that the possession of land was taken in August 1992.

The notification under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act (LAA) was issued on Oct 28, 1992 and notified under section 6 and 17 of the LAA which was published on Oct 29, 1992.

The award was passed in December 1992 and the compensation, awarded to petitioners was shown in certificate, issued by respondent No. 4 — assistant commissioner, Sanghar/land acquisition officer.

The petitioners claimed that respondents were repeatedly approached by them for the payment of compensation along with all benefits permissible under the LAA but to no avail.

They said that the respondents neither paid the compensation nor deposited the same in the district court as required under section 31 of the LAA.

The respondents were required under section 34, 28 and 28-A to give benefits to the petitioners since it was mandatory under the law.

The respondents had completed their projects a long time ago but they did not pay the compensation as required in the Constitution and the LAA.

The Additional Advocate General of Sindh, Masood A. Noorani, has directed the MD of SIDA and the executive engineer to appear before the court.