RFA No. 1027 of 2003 1 In the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh Date of decision : 20.5.2010 1. RFA No. 1027 of 2003 (O&M) Pritpal Singh and another ... Appellant vs Union of India .... Respondent 2. RFA No. 4443 of 2003 (O&M) Union of India ... Appellant vs Pritpal Singh and another .... Respondents 3. RFA No. 1308 of 2004 (O&M) Union Territory, Chandigarh ... Appellant vs Pritam Singh and another .... Respondents 4. RFA No. 2380 of 2004 (O&M) Ishwar Dyal and another ... Appellant vs Union Territory, Chandigarh .... Respondent 5. RFA No. 1170 of 2005 (O&M) Union Territory, Chandigarh ... Appellant vs Ishwar Dyal and another .... Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Mr. P. C. Dhiman, Advocate, for the landowners. Mr. Deepak Sharma, Mr. Gurinderjit Singh, and Mr. Vishal Sodhi, Advocates, for Union Territory, Chandigarh. Rajesh Bindal J. This order shall dispose of the aforesaid appeals, as the same arise out of common acquisition. The landowners have filed appeals seeking enhancement of compensation for the acquired land whereas the Union Territory, Chandigarh has filed the appeals seeking reduction in the compensation. The facts have been extracted from RFA No. 1027 of 2003. Briefly, the facts are that vide notification dated 9.8.1991, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act'), RFA No. 1027 of 2003 2 Chandigarh Administration acquired land situated within the revenue estate of Village Manimajra for setting up of Artisan Village. The Land Acquisition Collector vide award no. 450 LAO dated 9.1.1992 (for short, `the Collector') determined the market value of land at Rs. 2,00,000/- per acre. Aggrieved against the same, the land owners filed objections which were referred to the learned Additional District Judge, Chandigarh, who keeping in view the material placed on record by the parties, awarded compensation @ Rs. 4,84,000/- per acre for the acquired land. Learned counsel for the parties submitted that the issue involved in the present case is squarely covered by judgment of this court in RFA No. 893 of 2000 – R. D. Sharma and another vs The Union Territory of Chandigarh, decided on 20.10.2008, whereby the compensation payable to the landowners for the acquired land was further enhanced to Rs. 196/- per square yard. RFA No. 1170 of 2005 Learned counsel for the Union Territory, Chandigarh, submitted that the interest granted by the learned court below to the landowners is not in accordance with the provisions of law. It is not the fault of the Administration, rather it is the fault of the landowners as they did not come to collect the amount from the Collector. The contention raised by the learned Union Territory is totally misconceived. Provisions of Section 31 (2) of the Act are quite explicit. The amount of compensation, if not collected by the landowners is required to be deposited with the court concerned. It is not the case of the Union Territory that the amount was deposited with the court. Once this is not so, the Union Territory is certainly liable to pay interest as has been correctly directed to be paid by the learned court below. Accordingly, this contention is rejected. For the reasons mentioned above, the appeals filed by the Union Territory, Chandigarh, do not survive, accordingly the same are dismissed and that of the landowners are allowed in terms of R. D. Sharma's case (supra). 20.5.2010 ( Rajesh Bindal) vs. Judge