R.F.A. No. 893 of 2000 [ Page numbers] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of decision: October 20 ,2008 (1) R.F.A. 893 of 2000 R.D. Sharma and another .. Appellants v. The Union Territory of Chandigarh .. Respondent (2) R.F.A. 2316 of 2000 Vimal Khosla and others .. Appellants v. The Union Territory of Chandigarh .. Respondent (3) R.F.A. 95 of 2001 Jaswant Kaur and others .. Appellants v. Union Territory of Chandigarh .. Respondent (4) R.F.A. 96 of 2001 Darbara Singh and others .. Appellants v. Union Territory of Chandigarh .. Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL Present: Mr. Amar Singh Chahal, Advocate for the appellants in R.F.A. Nos. 893 and 2316 of 2000. Mr. Hardip Singh, Advocate for the appellants in R.F.A. No. 95 of 2001. Ms. Ekta Thakur, Advocate for the appellants in R.F.A. No. 96 of 2001. Ms. Lisa Gill and Mr. Deepak Sharma, Advocates for Union Territory, Chandigarh. R.F.A. No. 893 of 2000 [ Page numbers] Rajesh Bindal J. This order shall dispose of the above mentioned R.F.A. Nos. 893 and 2316 of 2000 and 95 and 96 of 2001, as the same arise out of a common acquisition. However, the facts have been extracted from R.F.A. No. 893 of 2000. The land owners are in appeal before this Court against the award of the learned Court below for further enhancement of the compensation for the acquired land. Briefly, the facts are that vide notification dated 10.12.1991, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act'), Chandigarh Administration acquired land situated within the revenue estate of Village Manimajra for setting up of Artisan Village. The Land Acquisition Collector (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 Rs. 4,84,000/- per acre for the acquired land. Learned counsel for the appellants relied upon an earlier judgment of this Court in R.F.A. No. 2117 of 1997 –Jagir Singh v. Union Territory, decided on 15.10.2008, where for the land situated on other side of the road leading from Chandigarh to Panchkula for the acquisition carried out vide notification dated 15.6.1989, this Court had determined the value of the land at Rs. 151/- per square yard. The submission is that the land in the present case is even better located as it is more close to Chandigarh situated just on the main road after crossing Railway Bridge and the same was acquired vide notification dated 10.12.1991 for setting up of Artisan village. He further referred to the fact that even the Collector had assessed the value of the acquired land @ Rs. 2,00,000/- per acre as against Rs. 1,60,000/- per acre assessed for the land acquired in Jagir Singh's case (supra), where acquisition was nearly 2-1/2 years before the acquisition in the present case. The prayer is for granting increase @ 12% per annum for the period of 2-1/2 years over and above Rs. 151/- per square yard as determined for the acquisition dated 15.6.1989. Learned counsel for the respondent submitted that the award in other case cannot be made basis for determination of the value of the land in the present case unless there is independent evidence to prove the value of the land in the area. Having heard learned counsel for the parties, in my considered opinion, the judgment of this Court in Jagir Singh's case (supra) is the best piece of R.F.A. No. 893 of 2000 [ Page numbers] evidence in the form of a judicial precedent for the purpose of determination of fair value of the land in the present case which was acquired vide notification dated 10.12.1991. For this purpose, the rate which is determined for the acquisition carried out across the road vide notification dated 15.6.1989 can very well be considered as a base and on that increase of 30% for the time gap of 2-1/2 years @ 12% per annum can be granted. It could not be disputed that the land in question is a prime piece of land which is situated quite close to other urbanised area. Calculating the increase of 30% on Rs. 151/- and adding Rs. 45/- therein, the value of the acquired land in the present case is assessed at Rs.196/- per square yard. The appellants in the present case shall also be entitled to statutory benefits as are available under the Act. The appeals are allowed in the manner indicated above. (Rajesh Bindal) Judge 21.10.2008 mk