R.F.A. No. 83 of 1987 [ 1]
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA
AT CHANDIGARH
Date of decision: September 22 ,2008
1 R.F.A. No.83 of 1987
Harbhajan Singh ...Appellant
Vs.
State of Punjab and another ...Respondents
2 R.F.A. No.84 of 1987
Dharam Singh ...Appellant
Vs.
State of Punjab and another ...Respondents
3 R.F.A. No.85 of 1987
Jagat Singh ...Appellant
Vs.
State of Punjab and another ...Respondents
4 R.F.A. No.86 of 1987
Pritam Singh ...Appellant
Vs.
State of Punjab and another ...Respondents
5 R.F.A. No.87 of 1987
Kehar Singh ...Appellant
Vs.
State of Punjab and another ...Respondents
6 R.F.A. No.212 of 1987
Radha Ram ...Appellant
Vs.
State of Punjab ...Respondent
R.F.A. No. 83 of 1987 [ 2]
7 R.F.A. No.225 of 1987
State of Punjab and another ...Appellants
Vs.
Kehar Singh ...Respondent
8 R.F.A. No.383 of 1987
Mewa Singh and others ...Appellants
Vs.
State of Punjab and another ...Respondents
9 R.F.A. No.473 of 1987
State of Punjab and another ...Appellants
Vs.
Harbhajan Singh and another ...Respondents
10 R.F.A. No.474 of 1987
State of Punjab and another ...Appellants
Vs.
Dharam Singh and another ...Respondents
11 R.F.A. No.475 of 1987
State of Punjab and another ...Appellants
Vs.
Pritam Singh ...Respondent
12 R.F.A. No.476 of 1987
State of Punjab and another ...Appellants
Vs.
Jagat Singh ...Respondent
13 R.F.A. No.477 of 1987
State of Punjab and another ...Appellants
Vs.
Mewa Singh and others ...Respondents
R.F.A. No. 83 of 1987 [ 3]
14 R.F.A. No.485 of 1987
State of Punjab ...Appellant
Vs.
Radha Ram ...Respondent
15 R.F.A. No.486 of 1987
State of Punjab ...Appellant
Vs.
Hari Ram ...Respondent
16 R.F.A. No.961 of 1987
Hari Ram ...Appellant
Vs.
State of Punjab ...Respondent
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL
Present: Mr. Pritam Saini, Advocate for the land owners in
all the appeals.
Mr. B.B.S. Teji, Assistant Advocate General, Punjab
for the State in all the appeals.
Rajesh Bindal J.
This order will dispose of the above mentioned Regular First
Appeals bearing Nos. 83 to 87, 212, 225, 383, 473 to 477, 485, 486 and 961 of
1987 as the same arise out of a common acquisition. However, the facts have
been extracted from R.F.A. No. 83 of 1987.
R.F.A. Nos. 83 to 87, 212, 383 and 961 of 1987 have been filed by
the land owners seeking enhancement of the compensation awarded by the learned
Court below, whereas R.F.A. Nos. 225, 473 to 477, 485 and 486 of 1987 have
been filed by the State for reduction of the compensation.
Briefly, the facts are that land in question situated in the revenue
estate of Village Makauri Badi was acquired vide notification dated 26.11.1982
issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act’) for
construction of Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal ( S.Y.L. Canal). The Land Acquisition
Collector (for short, `the Collector’) awarded compensation @ 33,680/- per acre
for chahi land; Rs. 20,000/- per acre for barani land; Rs. 10,000/- per acre for
banjar jadid land and Rs. 5,000/- per acre for gair mumkin land. Aggrieved
against the same, the land owners filed objections which were referred to the
R.F.A. No. 83 of 1987 [ 4]
learned District Judge, Ropar, who keeping in view the material placed on record
by the parties, determined the fair value of the land as under:
Chahi Rs. 60,000/- per acre
Barani Rs. 30,000/- per acre
Banjar Jadid Rs. 15,000/- per acre
Gair Mumkin Rs. 8,000/- per acre.
Learned counsel for the appellants submitted that the land in question
was acquired for the purpose of construction of SYL canal and for the land of
Village Thali, which was also acquired for the same purpose, the Collector had
awarded compensation at the rate of Rs. 2,05,000/- per acre for chahi; Rs.
1,16,000/- per acre for barani and Rs. 30,000/- per acre for gair mumkin land,
whereas in the present case, the award of the learned Court below is only Rs.
60,000/- per acre for chahi; Rs. 30,000/- per acre for barani; Rs. 15,000/- per acre
for Banjar Jadid and Rs. 8,000/- per acre for gair mumkin land. Keeping in view
the judgment of this Court pertaining to the land of Village Thali in Hari Singh
(since dead) through L.Rs. v. The Land Acquisition Collector (SYL), Patiala, 2008
(2) RCR (Civil) 352, the value of the land should be assessed at the same rate as it
has come on record in the form of the statement of R.W.1-Gurmail Singh Patwari
that Village Thali is at a distance of four kilometers from Village Makauri Badi, to
which the land in question pertained. He has further referred to a judgment of this
Court in R.F.A. No. 102 of 1991– Darshan Singh v. The Land Acquisition
Collector and another, decided on 29.5.2008, wherein for acquisition of land of
Village Nanakpura vide notification dated 19.9.1985 for construction of SYL
canal, the value was assessed at Rs. 4,84,000/- per acre.
On the other hand, learned counsel for the State submitted that the
value of the land is to be assessed on the basis of the material on record and not
merely on the basis of earlier awards/judgments, unless it is shown that the same
pertains to the acquisition of land for the same village or there is no difference as
such. He further submitted that on the basis of the material on record, the learned
Court below has fairly assessed the value of the land which does not call for any
interference.
Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.
As far as the judgment of this Court in Darshan Singh’s case (supra)
is concerned, the same cannot be relied upon for the purpose of determination of
compensation for the land acquired in the present case for the simple reason that
the same pertained to village Nanakpura, the location of which is not evident from
any material on record and further the acquisition therein was almost 3 years after
R.F.A. No. 83 of 1987 [ 5]
the acquisition of the land in the present case. In this judgment, reliance was
placed upon an earlier judgment of this Court pertaining to land in village Kotla
Nihang. It was further noticed that the area of Nanakpura falls between these two
villages and the land in dispute had the same advantages, rather, the same formed
part of extension of Ropar Township. It was on these basis that the value of the
land was determined.
A perusal of the impugned award shows that the land owners even
relied upon an award of the Court below for acquisition of land pertaining to
Village Thali, even before the Court below, where award of the Collector was
upheld. However, keeping in view the fact that there was no such similarity
between the two, the same was ignored. It may be noticed that in the present case,
the Collector determined the value of the land pertaining to village Makauri Badi
at the following rates:
"Chahi Rs. 33,680/- per acre
Barani Rs. 20,000/- per acre
Banjar Jadid Rs. 10,000/- per acre
Gair Mumkin Rs. 5,000/- per acre"
The award of the Collector for acquisition of land pertaining to
Village Thali was to the following effect:
"Chahi Rs. 2,05,000/- per acre
Barani Rs. 1,16,000/- per acre
Gair Mumkin Rs. 30,000/- per acre"
A bare perusal of the aforesaid two awards shows substantial
difference in the value of the land as assessed by the Collector himself, whereas in
the present case, for chahi land the value was assessed at Rs. 33,680/-, in the case
of Village Thali, it was assessed at Rs. 2,05,000/- per acre. For barani land in the
present case, the value was assessed at Rs. 20,000/- per acre, whereas for village
Thali, it was assessed at Rs. 1,16,000/- per acre. In the present case, the Collector
awarded Rs. 5,000/- per acre for gair mumkin land, whereas in the case of Village
Thali, he awarded Rs. 30,000/- per acre. There is a difference of about 6 to 7 times
in the assessment of value by the Collector for assessment of land for Village
Makauri Badi and Village Thali. The award of the Collector is also based on
certain sale instances, the averaging of which is done for the assessment of the
value of the land on the date of acquisition.
As far as other sale instances, produced by the land owners are
concerned, the same are Ex. P.3 to P.5 and R.2 to R.4. Vide sale deed Ex. P.3,
chahi land measuring 10 marlas was sold for Rs. 2,500/-, i.e., at the rate of Rs.
R.F.A. No. 83 of 1987 [ 6]
40,000/- per acre on 27.7.1982. Vide sale deed Ex. P.4, chahi land measuring 7
marlas was sold for Rs. 2,000/-, i.e., at the rate of Rs. 45,713.60 on 19.5.1981.
Vide sale deed Ex. P.5, 7 marlas of barani land was sold for Rs. 2,000/-, i.e., at the
rate of Rs. 45,713.60 on 26.11.1982. The sale instance showing the maximum
sale consideration is only Ex. R.3 at the rate of Rs. 26,666.66 for the sale of 9
marlas of chahi land on 8.7.1982.
As against these sale instances on record, the Collector had himself
assessed the value of the land at Rs. 60,000/- per acre for chahi land. However, on
the basis of principles followed by this Court in Hari Singh’s case (supra), some
increase is called for in the value of the land assessed for barani land.
In view of my above discussion, the award of the Collector
determining value of the chahi land at Rs. 60,000/- per acre is upheld. However,
following the principles followed in Hari Singh’s case (supra), with regard to
acquisition of land for Village Thali, the value of barani land is assessed by
applying a cut of 1/5th and is determined at Rs. 48,000/- per acre. The land owners
shall also be entitled to all statutory benefits under the Act.
Accordingly, the appeals filed by the land owners are partly
accepted, whereas the appeals filed by the State are dismissed.
(Rajesh Bindal)
Judge
September 22 ,2008
mk