R.F.A. No. 270 of 1988 [ 1]
In the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh
R.F.A. No. 270 of 1988
Date of decision : September 24, 2008
Jaimail Singh and others
.. Appellants
Vs.
The Land Acquisition Collector and another
.. Respondents
Present: Mr. Shailendra Sharma and Mr. Arun Jindal,
Advocates for the appellants.
Mr. Abhishek Chautala, Assistant Advocate General,
Punjab for the respondents.
Rajesh Bindal J.
The land owners are in appeal before this Court against the award
dated 20.11.1987, passed by District Judge, Patiala, seeking enhancement of the
compensation for the acquired land.
Briefly, the facts are that land measuring 14 bighas 8 biswas situated
in the revenue estate of Village Naushehra, Tehsil Rajpura, District Patiala was
acquired vide notification dated 17.8.1984 issued under Section 4 of the Land
Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act’) for construction of 66 KV Sub Station,
which was followed by notification under Section 6 of the Act on 18.1.1985. The
Collector gave award of Rs. 20,000/- per acre for Nehri land. Aggrieved against
the same, the land owners filed objections which were referred to the learned
District Judge, Patiala, who keeping in view the material placed on record by the
parties, determined the fair value of the land @ Rs. 40,000/- per acre.
Learned counsel for the appellants submitted that the compensation
awarded by the learned Court below on account of acquisition of land is not in
conformity with the evidence produced on record. The land in question had a great
potential for urbanisation. The land is situated on main road, which ultimately
merged into Rajpura-Ambala GT road. It is also evident from the evidence that a
Co-operative Store and two flour mills were there in Village Naushehra and the
acquired land was merely ½ kilometers from the G.T. Road. A High School, two
Banks, Civil and Veterinary Hospitals and a grain purchase centre were located
there. Even the learned Court below has failed to assess any compensation on
account of damages suffered by the appellants on account of major portion of their
land having been taken away and in between it was only a small strip which
R.F.A. No. 270 of 1988 [ 2]
remained to connect the same, as a result thereof it became difficult for the
appellants to irrigate the land. He further relied upon award dated 24.10.1986 (Ex.
A.5), passed by the Court below for acquisition of land in Village Chalheri vide
notification dated 28.2.1983 where, according to the learned counsel for the
appellants, the value of the land was assessed @ Rs. 1,65,000/- per acre for that
portion of the land which abutted on either side of the G.T. Road upto a depth of
100 karams and @ Rs. 1,80,000/- for that portion of the acquired land which
adjoined Urban Estate, Rajpura upto a depth of 50 karams. In that award,
compensation was awarded for nehri land @ Rs. 15,000/- per bigha only.
On the other hand, learned counsel for the State submitted that the
appellants had not led any evidence to show the price of the land in the area at the
time of acquisition. Reliance on award ( Ex. A.5 ) in the case of acquisition of land
in Village Chalheri is totally misplaced as the location thereof is far off from the
land in question and there is no site plan on record to substantiate the claim made
by the appellants.
Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.
Learned counsel for the parties have not pointed out as to whether
any other appeal arising out of the same acquisition is either pending or decided by
this Court.
It is a case where the appellants had not led any evidence in the form
of sale deed to show the fair value of the land in the area at the time of acquisition.
It is only the oral evidence led by them showing the location of the land. In
addition to this, reliance is on the award of the learned Court below on account of
acquisition of land for Village Chalheri vide notification dated 28.2.1983. As is
evident from the award ( Ex. A.5 ), a sum of Rs. 1,65,000/- per acre was awarded
for the land abutting G.T. Road upto the depth of 100 karams and @ Rs. 1,80,000/-
per acre for the portion of the acquired land which adjoined Urban Estate, Rajpura
upto the depth of 50 karams and compensation for nehri land was assessed at Rs.
15,000/- per bigha. This fact clearly shows that the land under acquisition in award
(Ex.A.5) is located close to the city and G.T. Road. It is for this reason that the
compensation was separately assessed for these two areas. As far as nehri land is
concerned, compensation for the same was granted only Rs. 15,000/- per bigha. In
the present case, the learned Court below has assessed the compensation for the
acquired land @ Rs. 40,000/- per acre. It is not clearly evident from any of the site
plan on record as to what is the distance of the land in question from G.T. Road or
from Rajpura. What is evident from the impugned award is that if measured by
crow flight, Shambu Kalan was at a distance of two kilometers from the acquired
R.F.A. No. 270 of 1988 [ 3]
land. Shambu Kala is situated on G.T. Road meaning thereby that the land is
situated two kilometers from G.T. Road even measured by crow flight. Even the
site plan produced along with an application also does not depict the location of
Village Chalheri, award of which is sought to be relied upon.
Accordingly, in my view, in the absence of any positive evidence
led by the appellants, the learned Court below did not commit any illegality in
determining the compensation payable to the appellants.
Even the claim set up by the appellants for damages on account of
left out land is totally misconceived as on a perusal of aks shijra (Ex.A.1), it is
clear that beyond the acquired land, there is a belt of one acre width connecting the
land of the appellants on either side.
For the aforementioned reasons, I do not find any illegality in the
impugned award. Accordingly, the present appeal is dismissed.
(Rajesh Bindal)
Judge
September 24, 2008
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