JUDGMENT
N.C. Jain, J.
1. This judgment of mine would dispose of R.F.A. Nos. 520 to 529 of 1989 filed by the claimants-landowner seeking enhancement of the compensation amount and R.F.A. Nos. 874 to 886 of 1989 preferred by the State of Punjab praying for reduction in the amount of compensation as they arise out of the common Award of the District Judge, Patiala, dated 21.11.1988.
2. In pursuance of the notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act), issued on 20.8.1982 the State of Punjab has acquired 25.73 acres of land situated in village Bhari Panaichan Tehsil Nabha District Patiala for a public purpose, namely, for the construction of Sirhind Choe. The Land Acquisition Collector by his Award dated 23.9.1986 assessed the market value of the acquired land as under:
1. Chahi Khalas Rs. 20,000/- per acre.
2. Dakar Rs. 15,000/- per acre. 3. Banjar Kadim Rs. 10,000/-per acre.
The landowners aggrieved against the Award of the Collector sought references under Section 18 of the Act. The District Judge by his Award under challenge before this Court has determined the market value of the acquired Chahi land at the rate of Rs. 32,000/- per acre whereas Barani/Banjar Kadim land was evaluated at the rate of Rs. 15,000/- per acre. Before adjudging the market value of the acquired land, it is necessary to have a look at the sale deeds, the chart of which is reproduced below:
No Nature Date of Area Sale Revenue Price
Exh. of sale price limits per acre
document Rs. Rs.
1.A4 Sale deed 15.6.82 8-B 4000/- Bhari Painchan 48,000/-
2.A5 Sale deed 24.5.83 3-B-13B 40000/- Jhamala 52,000/-
3.A6 Sale deed 15.6.83 3-B-12B 40000/- Jhamali 53,300/-
4.A7 Sale deed 29.8.84 1B-11B 40200/- Channa 1,37,800/-
On perusal of the Award it has been seen that the (sic) evaluating the acquired land at the aforesaid rates, relied upon Exh. A.4 a sale deed dated 15.6.1982 by virtue of which land measuring 8 Biswas situated in village Bhari Panaichan was sold at the rate of Rs. 4000/- bringing the average sale price at Rs. 48,000/- per acre. After applying the necessary cut of l/3rd, the market rate of Chahi land has been assessed at Rs. 32,000/- whereas the Barani/Banjar Kadim has been evaluated at Rs. 15,000/- per acre.
3. The counsel for the landowners, in the first instance, has argued that the Award given by this Court in R.F.A. No. 2174 of 1986 Jaswant Singh v. State of Punjab, decided on 10.8.1987 should have been relied upon by the District Judge for determining the market value of the acquired land. The contention has no force. This Court in Jaswant Singh’s case (supra) was dealing with notification acquired the land within the municipal limits of Amloh town. The acquiring land in the present cases is admittedly situated in the village and is agricultural in nature and, therefore, the Award in Jaswant Singh’s case (supra) will have to be held to he irrelevant for the purpose of determining the market value in the present case.
4. Faced with this situation, the learned counsel has argued that the District Judge should have taken into consideration sale deeds Exhibits A.5 to A.7 which pertain to sales of lands in certain villages falling within the vicinity of the acquired land. He has further argued that this Court and the Hon’ble Supreme Court in several judicial pronouncements including Tara Singh (deceased) v. State of Punjab, (1983) 85 P.L.R. 286 and State of U.P. v. Major Jitendra Kumar, A.I.R. 1982 S.C. 876 have laid down that sale instances subsequent to the date of notification can be taken into consideration. There can hardly be any dispute with this proposition of law. However, this Court is disinclined to take into consideration sale deed Exh. A.7 for two reasons. Firstly, Exh. A.7 was registered on 29.8.1984 i.e. after more than 2 years whereas the land was acquired in the present cases on 20 8.1982. Secondly,’ Exh. A.7 pertains to the sale of land in village Chahal which, according to PW.3 Darshan Singh, is situated at a distance of one kilometer from the acquired land. The same reasoning would not apply to sale deeds Exhs. A.5 and A.6 as they were registered on 15.6.1983 i.e. within less than one year after the date of issuance of notification in the present cases. Moreover, as has been stated by PW.3 Darshan Singh, the revenue limits of village Bhari Panaichan adjoins the revenue limits of village Jhamala, Jhamali and Channa. It has further been stated by this witness that the price of land in village Jhamala and his village is the same. His statement has not been challenged in cross-examination. The land sold vide sale deeds P.5 and P.6 is situated in village Jhamala. Consequently, Exhibits A.5 and A.6 are quite relevant and comparable vis-a-vis the acquired land. The average sale price of all the three sale deeds, the chart of which has been reproduced above, when clubbed together comes to Rs. 51100/- per acre. In view of the smallness of the area sold in the aforementioned sale deeds, it would be appropriate to apply a deduction of l/3rd and the sale price thus comes to Rs. 34066/- for Chahi land which can be rounded off to Rs. 34100/- per acre. Correspondingly, the compensation of the acquired Barani/Bhanjar Kadim land is also enhanced from Rs. 15,000/- to Rs. 17050/- per acre.
5. For the reasons recorded above, all the appeals filed by the State of Punjab are ordered to be dismissed with no order as to costs whereas the appeals preferred by the claimants are allowed to the extent indicated above with proportionate costs. The landowners are further held entitled to the grant of statutory benefits of the amended provisions of Section 23(1A), 23(2) and 28 of the Act.