RFA No. 2358 of 1993 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH 1. RFA No. 2358 of 1993 Date of decision:- 30.10.2008 Ashok Kumar and another ...Appellants. Versus The State of Haryana ...Respondent. 2. R.F.A. No. 2359 of 1993 (O&M) Charan Dass and others ..... Appellants Versus State of Haryana ..... Respondents 3. R.F.A. No. 2360 of 1993 (O&M) Mohinder Kaur ..... Appellant Versus State of Haryana ..... Respondent 4. R.F.A. No. 2361 of 1993 (O&M) Devinderpal Sharma and others ..... Appellants Versus State of Haryana ..... Respondent 5. R.F.A. No. 2362 of 1993 (O&M) Mohinder Singh and another ..... Appellants Versus State of Haryana ..... Respondent 6. R.F.A. No. 2363 of 1993 (O&M) Amrik Singh and others ..... Appellants Versus State of Haryana ..... Respondent 7. R.F.A. No. 2364 of 1993 (O&M) Kulwant Singh and another ..... Appellants Versus State of Haryana ..... Respondent 8. R.F.A. No. 2365 of 1993 (O&M) Bant Singh ..... Appellant Versus State of Haryana ..... Respondent 9. R.F.A. No. 2716 of 1993 (O&M) State of Haryana ..... Appellant Versus Ashok Kumar and another ..... Respondents RFA No. 2358 of 1993 2 10. R.F.A. No. 2717 of 1993 (O&M) State of Haryana ..... Appellant Versus Mohinder Singh and another ..... Respondents 11. R.F.A. No. 2718 of 1993 (O&M) State of Haryana ..... Appellant Versus Mohinder Kaur ..... Respondent 12. R.F.A. No. 2719 of 1993 (O&M) State of Haryana ..... Appellant Versus Kulwant Singh and another ..... Respondents 13. R.F.A. No. 2720 of 1993 (O&M) State of Haryana ..... Appellant Versus Bant Singh ..... Respondent 14. R.F.A. No. 2721 of 1993 (O&M) State of Haryana ..... Appellant Versus Devinder Paul Sharma and others ..... Respondents 15. R.F.A. No. 2849 of 1993 (O&M) State of Haryana ..... Appellant Versus Amrik Singh and others ..... Respondents 16. R.F.A. No. 2994 of 1993 (O&M) State of Haryana ..... Appellant Versus Charan Dass and others ..... Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL Present: Mr.Shailendra Jain, Advocate for the appellants. (In RFA Nos. 2358 to 2362, 2364, 2365, 2716 to 2721, 2848, 2994 of 1993) Mr. L.S. Virk, Advocate for Mr. Rupinder Khosla, Advocate. ( In RFA No. 2363 of 1993) Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, AAG, Haryana. RAJESH BINDAL J. This order will dispose of the bunch of cases arising out of the RFA No. 2358 of 1993 3 same acquisition. In RFA Nos. 2358 to 2365 of 1993 the landowners are in appeal seeking further enhancement of compensation on account of acquisition of land, whereas in RFA Nos. 2716 to 2721, 2849 and 2994 of 1993, the State is in appeal impugning the award of the learned Court below seeking reduction in the compensation already granted. Briefly the facts are that vide notification dated 19.9.1983 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act (for short 'the Act'), the land measuring 173.38 acres of village Fatehpur, District Ambala was acquired for public purposes namely, for development and utilization thereof for residential and commercial areas by Haryana Urban Development Authority (for short 'the HUDA'). However, final acquisition was made only for 46.93 acres. The Land Acquisition Collector vide his award dated 17.9.1986 determined the value of the acquired land at Rs. 57,280/- per acre except for a small portion of land which was described as Gair Mumkin Rasta, the value of which was assessed at Rs.9440/- per acre. Learned counsel for the parties are not in dispute that the acquired land forms part of Sector 21, Panchkula. Dissatisfied with the award of the Land Acquisition Collector, the landowners filed objections which were referred to learned Court below, who on consideration of the material placed on record by the parties determined the value of the acquired land at Rs. 2,25,000/- per acre. It is this award of the learned Court below which is impugned before this Court. Learned counsel for the landowners submitted that for the purpose of determination of the fair value of the land in the present case, most appropriate evidence in the form of sale deed Ex.PW12/1 dated RFA No. 2358 of 1993 4 15.4.1982 whereby two marlas of land was sold for Rs. 10,000/- has been totally ignored. The submission is that the land had a great potential. The pressure for urbanization was already there. As the land is situated about 375 meters from the Ambala-Kalka National Highway on one side thereof whereas the entire land on the other side of the National Highway had already been acquired and developed into residential/commercial areas by HUDA. Further reliance was placed upon the award Ex. P19 pertaining to the land forming part of village Judian where the value assessed as Rs. 55/- per square yard. It is further submitted that even if sale deed Ex. PW12/1 which is pertaining to a small peace of land measuring 2 marlas is not be relied upon as such for the purpose of determination of fair value of the acquired land measuring 46.93 acres, a reasonable cut can be applied. It is further submitted that no transaction for sale or purchase of land could take place in the area for the reason that land was initially notified for acquisition on 7.9.1971. However, that acquisition was quashed in the year 1983 and it was thereafter that this land was re-notified for acquisition. As a result thereof in this area no sale or purchase of land took place. In such a situation, it is only the sale purchase of property in the vicinity thereof which can be relied upon for the purpose of determination of fair value of the acquired land. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State submitted that reliance on sale deed Ex. PW12/1 would be totally misplaced in the present case for the simple reason that the same was for a small peace of land and further the location thereof was on main Ambala-Kalka National Highway which was purchased for a commercial purpose. As against this, the reliance was sought to be placed upon award Ex. R1 for the acquisition of land RFA No. 2358 of 1993 5 pertaining to village Maheshpur vide notification dated 6.6.1983 which was also acquired for development as Sector 21, Panchkula where the learned Court below determined the value at Rs. 1.50 lakhs per acre. Distinguishing the award Ex. P19, as is sought to be relied upon by the learned counsel for the land owners, the submission is that land forming part of village Judian is located on road leading from Chandigarh to Panchkula and it was an area which had already been developed whereas the land in question is located far off from this place. Further reliance was placed upon sale deed Exs. P13 and P14 vide which one marla each was sold for Rs. 1,500/- each. The land is forming part of area of village Fatehpur. A perusal of the site plan Ex. PW7/B shows that the land of village Maheshpur and village Fatehpur ( under consideration in the present set of appeals) was acquired for Sector 21, Panchkula and the same is adjoining each other. The distance thereof even from the main Amabla-Kalka Highway is also almost similar. Further a perusal of the site plan Ex.PW11/A shows that the land forming part of sale deeds Exs. P13 and P14 is situated just close to the abadi of the village Fatehpur. The average price per acre of this land is also only Rs. 2,40,000/- per acre. The sale transactions were entered into on 8.9.1982 nearly one year prior to the date of acquisition. Even if the value of the acquired land is considered in terms thereof the amount of compensation as awarded by the learned Court below is much more than what the land owners deserve accordingly, the same calls for reduction what to talk of enhancement sought by them. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. As far as the location of land is concerned, the same is not RFA No. 2358 of 1993 6 disputed. It is further evident from the record that the land in the vicinity i.e. of the neighbouring village Maheshpur was acquired for the same purpose vide notification dated 6.6.1983 where the learned Court below determined the value at Rs. 1,50,000/- per acre vide award Ex. R-1. As to whether the award attained finality is not known to either of the party. In the present case, the learned Court below assessed the value of the acquired land at Rs. 2,25,000/- per acre, primarily considering the award for the neighbouring village Maheshpur and accepting the contention of the land owners to the effect that their land is situated on the main road. The sale deed Ex. PW12/1 which was sought to be relied upon by the land owners was not considered by the learned Court below for the reason that merely two marlas of land was sold for a sum of Rs. 10,000/-. Even this Court does not find the same to be relevant piece of evidence for the purpose of determination of fair value of the acquired land for the simple reason that piece of plot was purchased by the vendee therein for commercial purpose and the same is situated on main Ambala-Kalka highway whereas admittedly the acquired land is situated 375 meters away from the main Ambala-Kalka highway and far of from that location. Even for the purpose of application of cut in my considered opinion sale deed will not be the relevant piece of evidence. The other material on record is in the form of two sale deeds Ex. P13 and P14 whereby one marlas of land each, situated in village Fatehpur was sold for a sum of Rs. 1,500/- each. The location of these two plots of land is near the village abadi, as is evident from site plan Ex. PW11/A. Though it was sought to be argued that the land forming part of these two sale deeds was shown in the revenue record as Gadda Khaad and RFA No. 2358 of 1993 7 was not situated on the main road. But still considering the fact that the piece of land dealt with in these two sale transactions was pertaining to the same village, the land of which was acquired in the present case. Even if the benefit is granted to the land owners for this piece of land being recorded as Gadda Khaad but still considering the fact that these were pieces of plots measuring one marla each, and further giving the benefit of the fact that the land acquired was a big chunk of land located on a link road, I am of the considered opinion without applying any cut for the quality or inferior location of these two small transactions as shown in Ex. P13 and P14 the land owners in the present set of appeals can not be granted compensation more than the value as shown in the aforesaid sale deeds. Accordingly, the value of the acquired land in present case is assessed at Rs. 2,40,000/- per acre. The land owners shall also be entitled to all statutory benefits as are available under the Act. For the reasons mentioned above the appeals filed by the land owners are partly accepted whereas those of the State are dismissed. October 30 , 2008 (RAJESH BINDAL) ritu-II JUDGE