R.,F.A. No. 2553 of 1987 [ 1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH (1) R.F.A. No. 2553 of 1987 & X-Objections No. 30-CI of 1988 Date of decision: September 01, 2008 State of Haryana .. Appellant v. Jagdish Mitter .. Respondent (2) R.F.A. No. 2552 of 1987 State of Haryana .. Appellant v. Pritam Singh .. Respondent (3) R.F.A. No. 2566 of 1987 State of Haryana .. Appellant v. Chand Kaur and another .. Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL Present: Mr. H.S. Hooda, Advocate General, Haryana with Mr. Rajiv Kawatra, Senior Deputy Advocate General, Haryana for the appellant. Mr. H. N. Mehtani, Advocate for the respondents. .. Rajesh Bindal J. This order will dispose of the above-mentioned R.F.A. Nos. 2553, 2552 and 2566 of 1987 and X-objections No. 30-CI of 1988, as the same arise out of common award dated 30.7.1987 passed by Additional District Judge, Ambala. However, the facts have been extracted from R.F.A. No. 2553 of 1987. R.,F.A. No. 2553 of 1987 [ 2] The State has filed the present appeal against the award of the learned Court below under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act') challenging the quantum of compensation awarded to the respondent-land owner on account of acquisition of land. The land owner filed cross-objections seeking further enhancement of compensation of the acquired land. Briefly, the facts are that the land measuring 0.82 acres, situated in Village Nasirpur, Tehsil and District Ambala was acquired by the State of Haryana, Irrigation Department for the purpose of construction of banks of Panjokhra Minor from K. M. 0.720 to 0.862. Notification under Section 4 of the Act was issued on 19.10.1984, which was followed by a notification under Section 6 of the Act on 7.11.1984. The award was given by the Land Acquisition Collector (for short, `the Collector') on 30.12.1985 assessing the compensation at Rs. 50,080/- per acre. Dissatisfied with the award, the land owner filed objections which were decided by the learned Court below vide award dated 30.7.1987 assessing the compensation at Rs. 84,000/- per acre. The prayer of the State in the appeal is for reduction of the compensation granted by the Court below, whereas the land owner in the cross-objections has prayed for further enhancement in the compensation. Learned counsel for the land owner has referred to an earlier judgment of this Court in R.F.A. No. 2141 of 1984 –State of Haryana v. Smt. Bachan Kaur, decided on 8.5.1986, where the compensation for the land acquired in the vicinity for the same purpose has been assessed at Rs. 93,000/- per acre. It is relevant to mention here that the notification vide which the land was acquired in the aforesaid case was issued on 24.6.1982 for the purpose of construction of Panjokhra Minor, whereas in the present case the notification was issued on 19.10.1984, i.e., more than two years thereafter. The claim is made for the compensation at the rate of Rs. 93,000/- per acre. Learned Advocate General, Haryana, appearing for the State does not dispute that in the judgment of Smt. Bachan Kaur's case (supra), this Court had awarded compensation for the land acquired for similar purpose at the rate of Rs. 93,000/- per acre and that judgment had attained finality. It is also not in dispute that acquisition in that case was more than R.,F.A. No. 2553 of 1987 [ 3] two years before the date of acquisition in the present case. Keeping in view the aforesaid judgment of Smt. Bachan Kaur's case (supra), the compensation payable to the land owner is assessed at Rs. 93,000/- per acre. The land owner shall also be entitled to all other statutory benefits admissible under the Act. Accordingly, the cross-objections filed by the land owner are accepted with costs throughout. The appeals filed by the State of Haryana are dismissed. (Rajesh Bindal) Judge September 01, 2008 mk