ash 1 fa-1362.11withxobnst-18126 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELATE JURISDICTION FIRST APPEAL NO.1362 OF 2011 WITH CROSS OBJECTION STAMP NO. 18126 OF 2011 The State of Maharashtra. .. Appellant Vs Kana Naga Govari & Others. .. Respondents -- Shri A.R. Patil, AGP for the Appellant. Shri K.K. Malpathak for the Respondents. -- CORAM ; A.S. OKA, J DATED : 10TH AUGUST, 2011 ORAL JUDGMENT : . Taken up for final hearing as the Appeal has been already admitted. 2. The Appellant State of Maharashtra has taken an exception to the judgment and award dated 31st August, 2007 passed by the learned Civil Judge, Senior Division, Alibag, in a reference under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 ( hereinafter referred to as “the said Act”). The lands subject matter of acquisition are situated at village Kamothe, Taluka – Panvel, District – Raigad. The acquired lands were notified under Section 4(1) of the said Act on 3rd February, 1970 ash 2 fa-1362.11withxobnst-18126 for the public purpose of setting up a satellite city of New Bombay. The award made under Section 11 of the said Act was not accepted by the Respondents-Claimants and at their instance, a reference under Section 18 of the said Act was made. 3. By the impugned judgment and award, the market value has been fixed at Rs.20/- per sq. meter. In addition, the statutory benefits under Section 23(1-A), 23(2) and 28 of the said Act have been granted. By way of cross objection, the Respondents have claimed the market value at Rs.23/- per sq. meter. 4. I have heard the submissions of the learned AGP appearing for the Appellant and the learned counsel appearing for the Respondents-Claimants. 5. The Apex Court in the case of Avinash Dhavaji Naik Vs. State of Maharashtra, (2009) 11 Supreme Court Cases 171 dealt with an appeal arising out of the award made under Section 18 of the said Act relating to acquisition of land at village Wahal in Taluka Panvel, District Raigad, which was notified under notification dated 3rd February, 1970 for the same public purpose. The Apex Court while dealing with the facts of the case has noted that vast tracts of the lands from 96 villages situated in Thane and Raigad districts were notified for ash 3 fa-1362.11withxobnst-18126 acquisition in the year 1970 for the public purpose of setting up satellite city of New Bombay. The Apex noted that in almost all such cases, the award was belatedly declared. The Apex Court noted that there were hardly any sale transactions in the area in view of the acquisition. The Apex Court observed that potentiality of the land for the purpose of development and building purpose depends on large number of factors. The Apex Court also observed that the Court has to bear in mind not only the the purpose for which the lands were sought to be acquired, but also the subsequent events to some extent. 6 The Division Bench of this Court by judgment dated 25th and 26th February, 1993 decided various appeals arising out of awards made under Section 18 of the said Act relating to lands at villages Panvel and Kamothe, which were notified on the same date for the same public purpose. By the said judgment, the Division Bench of this Court decided the case of Nama Padu Hudar and others Vs. The State of Maharashtra (First Appeal No.754 of 1986) with other connected first appeals. The Division Bench adopted belting method by dividing the acquired lands into five different categories for the purpose of fixing the market value depending upon its distance either from the Bombay- Pune national highway or from the Zilla Parishad road. The categories made by the Division Bench and the market value fixed by the Division Bench for the respective categories read thus: ash 4 fa-1362.11withxobnst-18126 “Group No. First S.No. H.No. Area Rate Appeal sq.Mt. Granted No. P.S.M. Rs.Ps. I. 754/1986 671 1(Part) 8240 25/00 Abutting the Highway 763/1986 694 2 5870 25.00 698 2 510 25.00 704 7 1060 25.00 704 2 3310 25.00 II. 751/1986 598 2/5 4270 23.00 within (Part) 800 Metres 756/1986 665 1B 2450 23.00 665 1D 1860 23.00 663 1/5 1340 23.00 660 3 5830 23.00 III. 753/1986 614 2 3100 22.00 Abutting 751/1986 617 2 4350 22.00 Kamothe Z.P. (Part) Road to 1200 Metres 752/1986 548 7(Part) 2500 22.00 IV-A 755/1986 209 9 4560 20.00 800 Mtrs to 2200 Mtrs 213 10 1900 20.00 from Bombay- Poona Highway IV-B 200 Mtrs. From Z.P.Rd. 743/1986 240 2 1900 20.00 & Gaothan to 640 Mtrs. From Z.P. Rd. 274 2 4760 20.00 & Gaothan.” 7. The State of Maharashtra did not challenge the decision of the Division Bench in the case of Nama Padu Hudar and others (supra). ash 5 fa-1362.11withxobnst-18126 The method adopted by the Division Bench of this Court was approved by the Apex Court in its judgment dated 6th March, 2006 in Civil Appeal No. 1550 of 2006. The said decision was in the case of Shantadevi Ru- parel Vs. Special Land Acquisition Officer and another. At this stage, it must be also noted that the method adopted by this Court in the case of Nama Padu Hudar and others (supra) was considered by the Apex Court in the case of Avinash Dhavaji Naik (supra). The Apex Court ob- served that the said method may apply in case of lands in the vicinity of highway. It must be noted hear that another group of appeals arising out of lands at villages Panvel and Kamothe notified on the same date for the same public purpose came up before the Division Bench of this Court in the case of State of Maharashtra Vs. Prakash Vasudeo Deod- har (2008 (5) Bombay Cases Reporter 708). The Division Bench of this Court considered its earlier decision in the case of Nama Padu Hu- dar and others (supra) and divided the lands into three categories de- pending upon its distance from the national highway. In paragraph No. 17 of the said decision, the said three categories have been made. The said paragraph reads thus: “17. The claimants would be entitled to compensation for acquisition of their lands as under:- (a) Lands falling within 750 metres of the National Highway – Rs.25/- per sq. Metre. (b) Land falling within 750 to 1500 metres of the ash 6 fa-1362.11withxobnst-18126 National Highway – Rs.23/- per sq. Metre. (c) Land falling beyond 1500 metres of the National Highway – Rs.21/- per sq. Metre.” 8. As of today, the aforesaid decision has become final. The aforesaid decision of this Court determining the market value as on 3rd February, 1970 related to agricultural lands and this appeal relates to agricultural land. Therefore, considering the decision of this Court in respect of the lands in the same villages notified on the same date for the same public purpose, the compensation will have to be determined as per the said decision of this Court in the case of State of Maharashtra Vs. Prakash Vasudeo Deodhar (supra). 9. In the present case, the finding of the Reference Court is that the acquired land is situated at a distance of 2500 meters from the Bombay Pune National Highway. The said finding is based on the report of the valuer examined by the Respondents/Claimants. In fact, the valuer specifically stated before the Court that the distance between the acquired land and the Bombay Pune National Highway was 2500 meters. Therefore, the case will be governed by the category (c) of the judgment of the Division Bench of this Court in the case of State of Maharashtra v. Prakash Vasudeo Deodhar, [(2008)5 BCR 708] and hence the Respondents will be entitled to the market value at the rate of Rs.21/- per sq. meter. ash 7 fa-1362.11withxobnst-18126 10. Hence, I pass the following order: i. First Appeal No.1362 of 2011 is dismissed with no order as to costs ; ii. Cross Objection (stamp) No.18126 of 2011 is partly allowed ; iii. The award made in Land Acquisition Reference No.11 of 2000 is modified. The claimants therein will be entitled to total market value at the rate of Rs.21/- per square meter inclusive of market value offered by the award under Section 11 of the said Act. In addition, the claimants will be entitled to statutory benefits under Section 23 (1A), 23 (2) and Section 28 of the said Act. The claimants will be entitled to proportionate costs of the reference as well as First Appeal. iv The exercise of determining the compensation payable as per the modified award shall be carried out by the Reference Court within a period of three months from the date on which the writ of this judgment is received by the said ash 8 fa-1362.11withxobnst-18126 Court ; v. Excess amount shall be deposited by the State Government within a period of three months from the date on which compensation amount is determined by the Reference Court; vi. Civil Application No. 3641 of 2008 does not survive and the same is disposed of ; vii. If the compensation amount already deposited by the Appellant is lying deposited with the Reference Court, the said Court will permit withdrawal of the amount by the claimants. ( A.S. OKA, J )