RFA No.1318 of 1992 1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT
CHANDIGARH
Date of decision 19.11.2009
1. RFA No.1318 of 1992
Sunehra Ram ..... Appellant
V/s
State of Haryana .....Respondent
2. RFA No.1319 of 1992
Budha ..... Appellant
V/s
State of Haryana .....Respondent
3. RFA No.1320 of 1992
Hari Ram and others ..... Appellant
V/s
State of Haryana .....Respondent
4. RFA No.1321 of 1992
Chatru and others ..... Appellants
V/s
State of Haryana .....Respondent
5. RFA No.1432 of 1992
Jagdish Kumar ..... Appellant
V/s
State of Haryana .....Respondent
6. RFA No.1710 of 1992
State of Haryana ..... Appellant
V/s
Hari Chand .....Respondent
7. RFA No.1711 of 1992
State of Haryana ..... Appellant
V/s
Sunehra Ram .....Respondent
RFA No.1318 of 1992 2
8. RFA No.1712 of 1992
State of Haryana .....Appellant
V/s
Siri Chand .....Respondent
9. RFA No.1713 of 1992
State of Haryana .....Appellant
V/s
Budha .....Respondent
10. RFA No.1714 of 1992
State of Haryana .....Appellant
V/s
Chatru .....Respondent
11. RFA No.1719 of 1992
State of Haryana .....Appellant
V/s
Jagdish Kumar .....Respondent
12. RFA No.1888 of 1992
State of Haryana .....Appellant
V/s
Hari Ram .....Respondent
CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HEMANT GUPTA
1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the
judgment?
2. To be referred to the Reporters or not?
3. Whether the judgment should be report in the Digest?
Present: Mr. Arun Jain, Sr. Advocate, with
Mr. Amit Jain, Advocate,
for the appellant(s) in RFA Nos.1318 to 1321.
Mr. Pritam Saini, Advocate,
for the appellant(s) in RFA No.1710.
Mr. H.S.Hooda, Advocate General, Haryana with
Mr.Lokesh Sinhal, Addl. Advocate General, Haryana.
RFA No.1318 of 1992 3
HEMANT GUPTA, J. (ORAL)
This order shall dispose of 12 appeals against the Award dated
12.2.1992 rendered by the learned Reference Court in 7 references. 5
land-owners are in appeal, whereas remaining appeals are by the State.
Land measuring 20.519 acres was acquired by the State
Government for a public purpose i.e. Construction of Haryana Irrigation
Research Station on Kurukshetra-Pehowa Road, vide notification dated
29.6.1985 under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short
‘the Act’). The Land Acquisition Collector announced his Award Nos.62
and 63 in respect of the aforesaid land and the market value assessed was
Rs.34,500/- per acre.
Dis-satisfied with the amount of market value determined by
the Land Acquisition Collector, the aggrieved land-owners have sought
references for determination of the proper market value. The learned
Reference Court vide Award dated 12.2.1992 determined Rs.96,800/- per
acre as the market value i.e. Rs.20/- per square yard. It is said
determination, which is subject matter of appeals.
During the pendency of the present appeal, an application for
additional evidence has been filed under Ordr 41 Rule 27 of the Code of
Civil Procedure, by the land-owners. The application is to produce on
record certified copy of the judgment in RFA No.2900 of 1986 titled “Siri
Chand and others Vs. State of Haryana and another” decided on
28.1.2004. The appellant has also sought to produce site plans
Annexures A-2 and A-3 in respect of the land in dispute. Though, no
reply in the said appeal has been filed, but a reply has been filed in RFA
RFA No.1318 of 1992 4
No.1710 of 1992 to the application under Order 41 Rule 27 of the Code
of Civil Procedure. An aks-shajra has been produced of Village Jyotisar
and Mirzapur giving location of the land, subject matter of the sale deeds,
with the said reply.
Since the application for permission to lead additional evidence
is in respect of an order passed by this Court, the same is allowed. The
Award and the site plans Annexures A-2 and A-3 are permitted to be
taken on record as marked as Exs.CX-1, CX-2 and CX-3 respectively.
The learned Reference Court has found that the acquired land is
at a distance of 3 ½ kilometers from the Kurukshetra township and only
half a kilometer from the outer wall of the Kurukshetra University
Campus. The land is on Kurukshetra-Jyotisar road and residential
colonies i.e. Didar Nagar & Shanti Nagar have sprung up near the
acquired land. On the Western side of the acquired land, there are
godowns of Satluj Yamuna Link Canal Department; Irrigation
Department; Rest House; Haryana State Electricity Board’s Employees’
Colonies; Jyotisar mandir and cold storage etc. On the basis of such
evidence, the learned Reference Court returned a finding that two
residential colonies in the vicinity of the acquired land, have duly
developed. However, the sale instances relied upon by the parties were
not taken into consideration, in view of the fact that they were not found
relevant, keeping in view the distance from the acquired land and from
the abadi of village Mirjapur. Since the land was found to be potential
for development, treating the same sub-urban, the learned Reference
Court determined the market value at Rs.96,800/- per acre.
RFA No.1318 of 1992 5
This Court in Siri Chand’s case (supra) while dealing with the
acquisition of land measuring 56 Kanals 1 Marlas situated in village
Mirjapur, the same as in the present case, for the construction of Bus
Stand at Kurukshetra vide notification dated 15.5.1981. A perusal of
Ex.CX-2 shows that khasra No.14/6 subject matter of the appeals,
nearest to the Bus Stand, is at a distance of 1 kilometer, but away from
the town of Kurukshetra. Therefore, the land situated at a distance of 1
kilometer cannot be said to have the same market value as the land, which
was subject matter of the acquisition for Bus Stand in the year 1981. But
the fact remains that the acquisition of land, which was subject matter of
consideration in Siri Chand’s case (supra) is part of the same revenue
estate. Therefore, the compensation awarded in the aforesaid case forms
a reasonable yardstick for determining the compensation of the present
case as well.
Though, learned counsel for the land-owners has vehemently
argued that the land-owners should be given some enhancement over and
above the market value determined in Siri Chand’s case (supra) in view
the time gap and location. But keeping in view the distance of land
between the two parcels of land and in the absence of any evidence of
increase in price, I am of the opinion that the compensation of
Rs.1,20,000/- as determined in Siri Chand’s case (supra) would be
reasonable compensation for the acquired land as well.
In view of the said fact, the appeals filed by the land-owners
are allowed by determining the market value of the acquired land at
Rs.1,20,000/- per acre. The appeals filed by the State are dismissed. The
RFA No.1318 of 1992 6
land-owners shall be entitled to statutory benefits contemplated under
Sections 23(1A), 23(2) and 28 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 as
amended. The land-owners shall be entitled to the costs as well.
19.11.2009 (HEMANT GUPTA) Vimal JUDGE