IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
LA.App..No. 1296 of 2008(D)
1. STATE OF KERALA, REP. BY THE DISTRICT
... Petitioner
Vs
1. ACHPPAN
... Respondent
2. JANAKI
3. KELU
4. KEERAMMA
5. PARVATHY
6. BALAN
7. KUNJIRAMAN
8. RAJAN
9. SURENDRAN
10. LAKSHMANAN
11. SANTHA.
For Petitioner :GOVERNMENT PLEADER
For Respondent : No Appearance
The Hon'ble MR. Justice KURIAN JOSEPH
The Hon'ble MR. Justice HARUN-UL-RASHID
Dated :30/07/2008
O R D E R
KURIAN JOSEPH & HARUN-UL-RASHID, JJ.
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L.A.A.NO. 1296 OF 2008
&
C.M. APPLICATION NO.1351 OF 2008
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Dated this the 30th day of July, 2008
JUDGMENT
Harun-Ul-Rashid, J.
C.M. Application No.1351 of 2008 is an application to condone the
delay of 890 days in filing the appeal. The appeal is filed by the State of
Kerala challenging the decree and judgment in L.A.R. No.23 of 1998 on
the file of the Sub Court, Sulthan Bathery.
2. The extent of land acquired is 0.3670 hectres of wet land and
0.0430 hectres of dry land in Kottathara Village. Acquisition is for the
purpose of Karapuzha Irrigation Project as per notification last published
on 27.6.1994. Dissatisfied with the land value fixed by the appellant, the
claimants sought reference. The reference court granted enhancement of
compensation with statutory benefits. The evidence in the case consists of
the oral evidence of AWs.1 and 2 and Exts.A1 to A5 on the side of the
claimants and Exts.R1 to R4 on the side of the respondent. Exts.C1 and
C1(a) are respectively the report and sketch submitted by the
L.A.A.NO.1296/2008 2
Commissioner.
3. According to the claimants, the acquired property (wet land) is
situated on the side of Mananthavady road. It has come out in evidence
that the said road is a busy road with heavy traffic and it is also a bus
route. Several commercial establishments, telephone exchange etc. are
situated very near to the acquired land. Therefore, the reference court
held that the acquired land was a commercially important place. The
Commissioner in Ext.C1 reported about the locational importance of the
property. The reference court also found on the basis of Ext.C1 report that
the acquired land is situated about 750 metres from Kambalakkadu town.
The Commissioner also reported that the acquired land and the land
covered by Ext.A5 are similar and similarly situated.
4. The Land Acquisition Officer fixed land value at the rate of
Rs.790.64 per cent for the wet land. Considering the importance of the
locality and the consideration shown in Ext.A5, the reference court refixed
the land value at Rs.1,500/- per cent. In respect of the dry land, the Land
Acquisition Officer fixed land value at the rate of Rs.1,580/- per cent
which was found to be just and fair by the reference court. We find that
the fixation of land value for the wet land at Rs.1,500/- per cent on the
L.A.A.NO.1296/2008 3
basis of the materials on record is just and reasonable. No grounds are
made out by the appellant to take a different view from the one taken by
the reference court. The appeal, therefore, fails.
Accordingly, the appeal and the application for condonation of delay
are dismissed. I.A. No.2896 of 2008 is also dismissed. There will be no
order as to costs.
(KURIAN JOSEPH, JUDGE)
(HARUN-UL-RASHID, JUDGE)
sp/
L.A.A.NO.1296/2008 4
KURIAN JOSEPH &
HAURN-UL-RASHID, JJ.
L.A.A. NO. 1296/2008
JUDGMENT
30th July, 2008