R. F. A No. 2449 of 1987 1 In the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh R. F. A No. 2449 of 1987 (O&M) Date of decision : 15.9.2008 State of Haryana ..... Appellant vs Sheo Chand (deceased) through LRs. and others ... Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Mr. B. S. Rana, Additional Advocate General, Haryana with Mr. Rajiv Kawatra, Senior Deputy Advocate General, Haryana, for the appellant. Rajesh Bindal J. By filing the present appeal, the State of Haryana has sought reduction in the compensation awarded by the learned Additional District Judge, Bhiwani. Briefly, the facts are that vide notification dated 12.8.1986, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, 'the Act'), the State of Haryana acquired 8 kanals 5 marlas of land in the revenue estate of Village Umarwas, for public purpose namely for free allotment of residential plots to landless, homeless, Harijans, Members of Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Persons. The Land Acquisition Collector vide award dated 12.9.1986 assessed the market value of the land at Rs. 15,000/- per acre. Dissatisfied with the award of the Land Acquisition Collector, the landowners/claimants filed objections. On reference under Section 18 of the Act, the learned court below vide award dated 11.6.1987, determined the market value of the acquired land at Rs. 25,000/- per acre. Learned counsel for the State submitted that the value of the land determined by the court below is highly excessive if considered in terms of the evidence on record. After hearing learned counsel for the appellant, I do not find any merit in the submission made. The landowner in the present case had submitted that he had spent an amount of Rs. 70,000/- for levelling some portion of the land and had constructed khudis and the market value was not R. F. A No. 2449 of 1987 2 less than Rs. 1 lac per acre.Though these facts could not be substantiated. The sale instance referred to by the appellant showing the value of the land at Rs. 10,000/-per acre could not be considered for the reason that the same was below the compensation granted by the Land Acquisition Collector, who determined the value of the land at Rs. 15,000/- per acre. However, keeping in view the fact that the land in question was rosali chahi and adjoining the village abadi and further that the area acquired was merely 8 kanals 5 marla, the value thereof was determined at Rs. 25,000/- per acre. I do not find any ground to upset the award of the court below for the reason that the acquisition in question was of a small piece of land carried out way back on 12.8.1986 and further on the basis of material on record the court below reasonably assessed the value of the land under acquisition, where some guess work has to be there. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed. 15.9.2008 ( Rajesh Bindal) vs. Judge