DICTION Civil Appeal No 8670 of 1983
From the JudGment and Order dated 3 9 1982 of the Punjab and Haryana HiGh Court in ReGular First Appeal No 1 105 of 198 1
WITH CA Nos 8634 to 86 5883 and 8660 6283 8665 to 866983 and 8671 72 83 Prem Prasad Juneja and RS Sodhi for the Appellants
HM Singh for GK Bansal for the Respondents
648 The Judgment of the Court was delivered by K RAMASWAMY J
The common questions of law arose for decision in these appeals
Hence they are disposed of together
Notification under section 4 1 of the Land Acquisition Act 1 of 1984 was published in the Punjab State Gazette on January 27 1978 acquiring 89 acres 4 canals and 12 marlas of land situated in Dhuri village for public purpose namely to set up new Mandi Township
The appellants claimed at the rate of Rs 30000 per Bighabut Land Acquisition Officer after classifying the lands into six blocks A to F awarded market value ranging between Rs 30000 to Rs 6000 acre
On reference under section 18 of the Act the District Judge Sangrur in his judgment dated May 13 1981 disagreed with the classification and found that all the lands are possessed of the same quality
Relying on sale deeds exhibit p 3 dated September41972 p 5 dated June 141976 p 2 dated February 23 1977 and p 4 dated July 15 1977 all small extents he calculated at an average of Rs 1300 per Biswa and awarded to the lands belonging to Jaswant Kaur Baldev Singh and Gurdev Singh at the rate of Rs 1000 per Biswael finding that their lands are abutting Abadi village and for the rest awarded at the rate of Rs 800 per Biswa with statutory solatium at 15 and interest of 6 per annum on enhanced compensation
Dissatisfied therewith the State filed the appeals and against disallowed claims the claimants in one batch filed appeals and in another batch filed cross objections
The learned Single Judge relied on exhibit p3 and p 5 filed by the claimants and exhibit R 4 and R 6 filed by the State as comparable instances and calculated the average which worked out at Rs 750 per Biswa
He found that the lands are possessed of potential value for further building purposes
Therefore he carved out belting at a depth of 100 ft from the main road to those lands deducted 13rd towards developmental charges and awarded the market value at the rate of Rs 750 to the land situated abutting to the main road to the depth of 100 ft and for the balance lands at the rate of Rs500 per Biswa
The State appeals were allowed and of the claimants and cross objection were dismissed
The Division Bench confirmed the judgment of the learned Single Judge
The claimants filed these appeals by special leave
In the first batch no witness has been examined but in the second batch witnesses were said to have been examined in proof of these documents but their evidence was not made part of the record
Equally of the sale deeds
It is seen that the documents in the second batch p top 1 include those filed in the first batch
exhibit p 5 is dated Sept 4 1972 in which 20 Biswas of land was sold for Ice Factory
It was situated in the town itself
The price fetched therein was Rs 20000 Therefore it worked out at the rate of Rs 1000 per Biswa
exhibit p10 is dated August 25 1975 7 Biswas of land in Dhaula village was sold for Rs 649 75000 which works out at rate of Rs 1071 per Biswa
exhibit p 7 is dated June 14
19763 Bighas 16 Biswas of land situated at Dhularoad side was sold for Rs 4500 which works out at the rate of Rs 1285 per Biswa
Exp 8 dated June 15 1977 is for 4 Biswas of land at Dhula road sold for Rs 4000 which works out at Rs 1000 per Biswa
exhibit p 4 is dated Feb 23 19773 Biswas of land in the heart of the town Dhuri was sold for Rs 6000 which works out to Rs 2000 per Biswa
exhibit p 6 is dated may 181977 one Bigha7 Biswas were sold for Rs 1000 which works out to Rs 370 per Biswa
This land is away from the town and also from the acquired land
exhibit p 9 is dated July 12 1977 15 Biswas of land were sold for Rs 24000 working out at the rate of Rs 1600 per Biswa
Based thereon it was contended that exhibit p 9 fetches the highest market value and is nearer to the date of notification and would offer comparable price
The High Court ought to have fixed market value at that rate
The High Court committed illegality in relying on two sale deeds of the claimants and two mutation entries on behalf of the state in working out the average
Therefore fixation of the market value is illegal
The mutations are not admissible as neither sale deeds were filed not any body connected with them are examined
The question therefore is whether these sale transactions would reflect the prevailing market value of the land of the total extent of 90 acres
It is seen that in the first batch no one was examined to prove the documents
In the second batch though witnesses were said to have been examined the evidence is not on record
Neither the reference court nor the High Court discussed the evidence and no finding was given
So we do not have the advantage of any findings in that behalf
The state filed 5 mutation entries which were marked
The sale entries exhibit
R 6 is of October 41977 and exhibit R 5 of November 13 1977
The rates of lands in Saledeeds executed between March 7 1977 to November 13 1977 ie R 2 on 7377 R 3 on 8677 R 4 on 31877 and R 5 on 301177 work out between Rs 83 to Rs 450 per Biswa
It is settled law that to determine the market value of the land under section 231 of the Act the sales of the land under requisition if any or the sales in the neighbourhood lands that possessed of same or similar potentialities or fertility or other advantageous features would furnish basis to determine just and fair market value on the premise of hypothetical willing vendor and willing vendee
The willing vendor who would offer the land and willing vendee who would agree to purchase the land as a prudent man in normal market conditions as on the date of the notification or near about the date of the notification is the acid test
It is also settled law that the sale and purchase of lands at a throw away price at arm s length or depressed sales or fecal of sales brought into existence in quick succession to inflate the market value would not offer any basis to determine just market value
In order to adjudge whether sales are bonafide sales between willing vendor and 650 willing vendee and whether the consideration mentioned in deed was in fact and really passed on under transaction 
whether the lands covered by sale deeds and relied on possessed of same or similar potentialities or fertilities or advantageous features would be brought on record only by examining the vendor or the vendee or if neither of them is available the attesting witness who has personal knowledge of the bargain and passing of the consideration are mandatory
Vide Periyar  Pareekanni Rubbers Ltd vs State of Kerala wherein this court surveyed the entire case Law in that respect
Since none has been examined in the first batch the sale transactions referred to either by the state or by the claimants cannot be relied upon
In the second batch since the evidence has not been referred to by the courts below nor discussed by them nor we have the advantage to go through the same we cannot rely on the same to further enhance the market value
Therefore we are left with no option
but to reject those sale deeds
Moreover except exhibit p 9 all other sale deeds are of very small extents
This court consistently has taken the view in Collecior of Lakhimpur vs Bhuban Chandra Dutta AIR 1971 SC 2015 Mirza Naushery voan Khan  Anr
vs Collector Land Acquisition
Hyderbad   Rain Rattan  Ors
vs State of U P Smt
Kaushalya Devi Bogra  Orsv
Land Acquisition officer Aurangabad  Anr   Padma
Uppal vs State of Punjab  Ors
  Administrator General of West Bengal vs Collector
Varanasi  and Special Tehsildar Land Acquisition vs A Mangala Glowri 19914 SCC 218 that sale deeds of small extents being retail price do not offer comparable basis to fix compensation when large block of land is acquired
To an intending bonafide purchaser if such block of 90 acre is offered for sale would he agree to purchase at retail price or far less value Under no circumstance he would agree to purchase at retail prices mentioned above
In view of the settled legal position the saledeeds sought to be relied upon do not give us any basis to determine the market value
Every endeavour would be made to fix fair and reasonable market value
If sale transactions relate to the lands under acquisition and if found to be genuine and bonafide transaction between willing vendor and vendee then it may be considered but reasonable margin must be given in fixing whole sale price
Therefore all the documents except p 9 are rejected
The next contention is that the sale deed exhibit p 9 by which 15 Biswas were sold for Rs 24000 which works out at the rate of Rs 1600 per Biswa and whether this hiohest price should be given to the appellants
As stated earlier we have no evidence before us as to under what circumstances this document came to be executed and what is the distance between the lands and for what purpose the land was sold and what is the 651 comparable nature of the land fertility and potentialities of the land etc
The contention relying on state of Madras vAMRanjan  Anr
1976 3SCR35 that highest value should be fixed cannot be accepted in view of the consistent late
view of this court
In Collector of lakhimppur s case supra this court accepted the principle of average but however rejected the small extent of the lands arid enhancement based on the average at Rs 15000 per Bigha was reduced to Rs 10000 per Bicha
In Smt
Kausalya Devi s case supra this court noted that large extent of land in the developed Aurangabad town was acquired for Medical College accepted the principle of average worked out by the reference court varying between Rs 225 to Rs 500 per sq yard and this court ultimately fixed the market value at the rate of Rs 150 per sq yard
In Administrator General of West Bengal s case supra this court upheld rejection of the small plots of lands and accepted two sale deeds of large extent working out the average rate at Rs 500 per Decimal and ultimately reference court fixed the market value at the rate of Rs 200 per Decimal
It is therefore clear that the court in the first instance has to determine as to which of the sale deeds are relevant proximate in point of time and offer comparable base to determine market value
Thereafter the average price has to be worked out
It would be seen that this court has taken consistent view of working out average and further deductions have been made in fixing just and fair market value when large chunk of the land was acquired
We respectfully agree and adhere to the principle and we find no compelling reason to divert the stream or arrest the consistence
The question then is whether the reduction of the market value by the learned Single Judge is warranted on facts and under law
In his judoment the learned Judge found that the acquired lands are situated between railway line on the one side and link road going from Dhuri to Sarona on the other side
On the third side it is surrounded by the in habited area of Dhuri town
A small portion in Khasra No 2585 was abutting the Dhola road and the rest of the acquired land is just behind the inhabited area
While acquiring these lands the Govt
have excluded the built up area
He also found that there is tendency of extension of Abadi village towards acquired lands
Therefore he found that the lands arepossessed of Potential value for being housed for urban purpose in the near future and therefore had to be valued as such Thus we have the evidence that the lands are possessed of potential value for being used for building purposes
In fact the acquisition itself is for construction of Mandi Township
The principle of belting is perfectly legal and unexception 652 ble as the lands abutting the main road upto a specified depth depending on actual material on record would fetch higher market rate than the lands situated a interior area
However on facts of this case the belting is not warranted for the reason that as seen on three sides there exist roads and abutting the village
As per the plan as found by the High Court there exists a road cutting across the acquired lands
Therefore there is not only access on three sides but also to interior lands
Thus in our view belting and fixation of differential rates of value is not justified
The next question is what would be the reasonable and just market value the lands were likely to fetch
In view of the fact that there is no evidence available and since the High Court found that the lands are possessed of potential value the rate of Rs 1000 per Biswa as awarded by civil court to the lands abutting abadi and the lands upto a depth of 100 ft is upheld
In view of the preceding finding we hold that the fixation of uniform rate of Rs 1000 per Biswa is legal
It is seen that this acquired land of 90 acres is undoubtedly undeveloped area and necessarily requires development by laying the roads parks drainage lighting and other civic amenities
In Brig
Sahib Singh Kalha  Ors
vs Amritsar Improvement Trust  Ors and Administrator General of West Bengal s case supra this court deducted 53 of the undeveloped lands towards developmental charges while fixing market value at decimal rate etc
towards amenities
In Special Tehsildar Land Acquisition Vishakapatnam s casesupra this court made deduction at 13rd
The appellant placed reliance on Bhagwathula Swamnana  Ors
vs Special Tahsildar Land Acquisition
Visakhapatnam  where this court did not deduct any land towards developmental charges
But in that case it was found that the lands acquired are situated in fully developed area
On those circumstances this court did not deduct any land towards developmental charges
It is seen that the consistent view of this court now is that deduction of at least 13rd is necessary towards developmental charges
Therefore we uphold deduction of 13rd towards development charges from the market value and determine the market value at Rs 670 per Biswa
The learned judge while deducting 13rd fixed market value at Rs 759 of frontage lands and Rs 500 to interior land
Rs 750 is obvious mistake but the state did not take any action to have itch corrected not filed appeals
Fixation of Rs 750 per Biswa of lands from road upto a depth of 100 ft became final
So we cannot interfere or correct it in claimants appeal
But for the rest of the lands we award Rs 670 per Biswa
with solatium at 15 and interest at 6 on the enhanced market value from the date of taking possession till date of payment
653 The appeals are accordingly allowed to the above extent
In the circum stances parties are directed to bear their own costs


Summary:
The prosecution case was that the appellant a non resident Indian at Dubai hatched a conspiracy along with four others to cheat the Bank at Chandigarh
in furtherance of the conspiracy the appellant got credit facility by way of Foreign Letters of Credit and issued proforma invoices of his concern and addressed to the Bank through the establishments of other accused
The Manager of the Bank another accused in confabulation with 544 the appellant and other accused being in charge of foreign exchange department issued Foreign letter of Credit in violation of import policy
The Bills of Lading were addressed to the Bank
The cable confirmation of the Bank was sent to appellant s concern at Dubai for confirmation of discrepancy
The appellant confirmed correctness thereof
Placing reliance thereon authority letter was issued by the Bank and cables were sent subsequent thereto to remit the amount 
to the Dubai Bank through one Irving Trust Company At the instance of accused Anand The Dubai Bank informed the Bankat Chandigarh that the discrepancy in the document adaptable to accused Anand and claimed to have inspected the goods on board in the vessel
On receipt of the information from the appellant s concern at Dubai full amount is US Dollars 439200 was credited against all the three Letters of Credit on discount basis
The investigation established that the vessel was a non existent one and three Foreign Letters of Credit were fabricated on the basis of false and forged shipping documents submitted by the appellant to the Dubai Bank
Thus the Bank at Chandigarh was cheated of an amount of Rs 4030329
The accused were charge sheeted under section read with sections 420 468 and 471 IPC
The Trial Court discharged all the accused of the offenses on the ground that conspiracy and the acts done in furtherance thereof had taken place outside India and as no sanction under section 188 Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 was produced the prosecution was not maintainable
The High Court in revision held that the conspiracy took place at Chandigarh and the overt acts committed In pursuance of that conspiracy at Dubai constituted offences under sections 420467 and 471 IPC and they were triable at Chandigarh without previous sanction of the Central Govt
The High Court setting aside the order of discharge of the trial Court directed to continue further proceedings in accordance with law
That order of the High Court was challenged under this appeal under Article 136 of the Constitution
The appellant contended that he was not a privy to the conspiracy and the conspiracy did not take place at Chandigarh and that even assuming that some of the offences were committed in India by operation of section 188 read with the proviso thereto with a non obstanti clause absence of sanction by the 545 Central Govt
barred the jurisdiction of the Courts in India to take cognisance of or to enquire into or try the accused
The respondents submitted that the conspiracy to cheat the Bank was hatched at Chandigarh that all the accused committed over acts in furtherance of the conspiracy at Chandigarh and therefore the sanction of the Central Govt
was not necessary
Dismissing the appeal this Court HELD Per K Ramaswarmy J 101
Judicial power of a State extends to the punishment of all offences against the municipal laws of the State by whomsoever committed within the territory
It also has the power to punish all such offences wherever committed by its citizen
The general principle of international law is that every person be it a citizen or foreigner who is found within a foreign State is subjected to and is punishable by its law
Otherwise the criminal law could not be administered according to any civilised system of jurisprudence
553F 102
Conspiracy may he considered to be a march under a banner and a person may join or drop out in the march without the necessity of the change in the text on the banner
In the comity of International Law in these days commiting offences on international scale is a common feature
The offence of conspiracy would be a useful weapon and there would exist no contact in municipal laws and the doctrine of autrefois convict or acquit would extend to such offences
The comity of nations are duty bound to apprehend the conspirators as soon as they set their feet on the country territorial limits and nip the offence in the bud
564 F G 201
Section 120 A of the IPC defines conspiracy  to mean that when two or more persons agree to do or cause to be done an illegal act or an act which is not illegal by illegal means such an agreement is designated as criminal conspiracy
No agreement except an agreement to commit an offence shall amount to a criminal conspiracy unless some act besides the agreement is done by one or more parties to such agreement in furtherance thereof
557 C 546 202
Section 120 B of the IPC prescribes punishment for criminal conspiracy
It is not necessary that each conspirator must know all the details of the scheme nor be a participant at every state
It is necessary that they should agree for design or object of the conspiracy
Conspiracy is conceived as having three elements 1 agreement 2 between two or more persons by whom the agreement is effected and 3 a criminal object which may be either the ultimate aim of the agreement or may constitute the means or one of the means by which that aim is to be accomplished
It is immaterial whether this is found in the ultimate objects
554 E 203
Conspiracy to commit a crime itself is punishable as a substantive offence and every individual offence committed pursuant to the conspiracy is separate and distinct offence to which individual offenders are liable to punishment independent of the conspiracy
556 D 204
The agreement does not come to an end with it 
making but would endure till it is accomplished or abandoned or proved abortive
Being a continuing offence if any acts or omissions which constitute an offence are done in India or outside its territory the conspirators continuing to be parties to the conspiracy and since part of the acts were done in India they would obviate the need to obtain sanction of the Central Govt
All of them need not he present in India nor continue to remain in India
556 E 205
An agreement between two or more persons to do an illegal act or legal acts by illegal means is criminal conspiracy
If the agreement is not an agreement to commit an offence it does not amount to conspiracy unless it is followed up by an overt act done by one or more persons in furtherance of the agreement
The offence is complete as soon as there is meeting of minds and unity of purpose between the conspirators to de that illegal act or legal act by illegal means
Conspiracy itself is a substantive offence and is distinct from the offence to commit which the conspiracy is entered into
It is undoubted that the general conspiracy is distinct from number of separate offences committed while executing the offence of conspiracy
Each act constitutes separate offence punishable independent of the conspiracy
563 F G Jones Case 1832 B  A D 345 Mulcahy vs Reg 1868 LR  Quinn vs Leathem  at 528 BG Barsay
vs The State of Bombay  Yashpal vs The State of Punjab  Mohammed Usman Mohamned Hussain Manivar  Anrv
State of Maharashtra 1981 3SCR 68Noor 547 Mohammad Yasuf Monin vs State of Maharashtra   RK Dalmia  Anr
vs The Delhi Administration   Shivanarayan Laxminarayan  Ors
vs State of Maharashtra  Ors
and Lennari Schussler  Anr
vs Director of Enforcement  Anr 1197012SCR 760 referred to 206
A conspiracy is a continuing offence and continues to subsist and committed wherever one of the conspirators does an act or series of facts
So long as it  performance continues it is a continuing offence till it is executed or rescinded or frustrated by choice or necessity A crime is complete as soon as the agreement is made but it is not a thing of the moment It does not end with the making of the agreement
It will continue so long as there are two or more parties to it intending to carry into effect the design
Its continuance is a threat to the society against which it was aimed at and would be dealt with as soon as that jurisdiction can properly claim the power to do so
The conspiracy designed or agreed abroad will have the same effect as in India
when part of the acts pursuant to the agreement are agreed to be finalised or done attempted or even frustrated and vice versa
564 H 565 A Abdul Kader vs State
AIR 1964 Bombay 133 US vs Kissal   Ford vs US  at 620 to 622 Director of Public Prosecutions vs Doot and Ors 1973 Appeal Cases 807 HL Treacy vs Director of Public Prosecutions 1971 Appeal Cases 537 at 563 HL and Board of Trade vs Owen
1957 Appeal Cases 602 referred to
Prof Williams Glanville Vanue and the Ambit of Criminal Law at 528 Halsbury s Law of England third edition Vol
page 327 Para 6O2 ArchoboldCriminal pleadings
Evidence and Practice 42nd edition 1985 Chapter 23 In para 28 32 at page 2281 Writ Conspiracies and Agreements at pages 73 74 Smith Crimes at page 239 and Russel Crime 12th edition page 613 referred to 207
Sanction under section 188 is not a condition precedent to take cognizance of the offence
If need be it could he obtained before trial begins
Conspiracy was initially hatcher at Chandigarh and though its elf is a completed offence being continuing offence even accepting appellant s case that he was at Dubai and part of conspiracy and overt acts in furtherance 548 thereof had taken place at Dubai and partly at Chandigar and in consequence thereof other offences had been ensued
Since the offences have been committed during the continuing course of transaction culminates in cheating PNB at Chandigarh the need to obtain sanction for various officer under proviso to section 188 is obviated
Therefore there is no need to obtain sanction from Central Govt
The case may he different if the offences were committed out side India and are completed in themselves without conspiracy
566 D E K Satwant Singh vs The State of Punjab   In Re M L Verghese AIR 1947 Mad 352 T Fakhulla Khan and Ors
vs Emperor AIR 1935 Mad 326 Kailash Sharma vs State 1973 Crl
law journal 1021 distinguished
Purshottamdas Dalmia vs State of Bengal   LN Mukherjee vs The State of Madras   RK Dalmia vs Delhi Administration  at 273 Banwari Lal Jhunjhunwala and Ors vs Union of India and Anr 1963 Supp 2 SCR 338 referred to
Per RM Sahai J Concurring 11
Language of the section 188 Code of Criminal Procedure is plain and simple
It operates where an offence is committed by a citizen of India outside the country
Requirements are therefore one commission of an offence second by an Indian citizen and third that it should have been committed outside the country
567 D 12
Substantive law of extra territory in respect of criminal offences is provided for by Section 4 of the IPC and the procedure to inquire and try it is contained in Section 1 88 Cr
PC Effect of these sections is that an offence committed by an Indian citizen outside the country is deemed to have been committed in India
567 E 13
Since the proviso to Section 188 Cr
PC begin 
with a non obstinate clause its observance is mandatory
But it would come into play only if the principal clause is applicable namely it is established that an offence as defined in dause n of Section 2 of the Cr
PC has been committed and it has been committed outside the country
567 G 549 14
What has to be examined at this stage is if the claim of the appellant that the offence under Section 120B read with Section 420 and Section 471 of the IPC were committed outside the country
An offence is deemed in the Cr
PC to mean an Act or omission made punishable by any law for the time being in force
None of the offences for which the appellant has been charged has residence as one of its ingredients
567 H 568 A 15
The jurisdiction to inquire or try vests under Section 177 in the Court in whose local jurisdiction the offence is committed
It is thus the commission of offence and not the residence of the accused which is decisive of jurisdiction
When two or more persons agree to do or cause to be done an illegal act or an act which is illegal by illegal means such agreement is designated a criminal conspiracy under Section 120A of the IPC
The ingredients of the offence is agreement and not the residence
Meeting of minds of more than two persons is the primary requirement Even if it is assumed that the appellant was at Dubai and he entered into an agreement with his counterpart sifting in India to do an illegal act in India the offence of conspiracy came into being when agreement was reached between the two
The two minds met when talks oral or in writing took place in India
Therefore the offence of conspiracy cannot be said to have been committed outside the country
568 B C 16
If a foreign national is amenable to jurisdiction under Section 179 of the Cr
PC a NRI cannot claim that the offence shall be deemed to have been committed outside the country merely because he was not physically present 568 F Mobarik Ali Ahmed vs The State of Bombay   referred to
An offence is committed when all the ingredients are satisfied
The section having used the word offence  it cannot be understood as part of the offence
Section 179 Cr
PC empowers a court to try an offence either at a place where the offence is committed or the consequences ensue
On the allegations in the complaint the act or omissions were committed in India
In any case the consequence of conspiracy cheating and forging having taken place at Chandigarh the offence was not committed outside the country therefore the provisions of Sec
188 Cr
PC were not attracted
569 B