R.F.A. No. 3804 of 2007 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH R.F.A. No. 3804 of 2007 (O&M) Date of Decision: 24.9.2010 State of Haryana and others .... Appellants vs. Gajraj Singh and another .... Respondents Coram : Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present:- Mr. Ashish Gupta, Assistant Advocate General, Haryana. Mr. Arun Singal, Advocate, for the landowners. RAJESH BINDAL, J This order will dispose of appeals bearing RFA Nos. 3804 to 3811, 3993, and 4476 to 4482 of 2007, 691 and 692 of 2008, as common questions of law and facts are involved. The landowners have filed appeals seeking enhancement of compensation for the acquired land whereas by filing appeals the State of Haryana is seeking reduction of compensation. Briefly the facts are that vide notification dated 20.4.2000 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, 'the Act') the State of Haryana acquired land situated within the revenue estate of village Jaitpur Shekhpur, Tehsil and District Rewari for construction of Pataudi Distributory. The same was followed by notification dated 20.7.2000 issued under Section 6 of the Act. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, 'the Collector') vide award dated 4.6.2002 assessed the market value of acquired land @ ` 1,25,000/- per acre for chahi, ` 1,05,000/- per acre for barani, ` 85,000/- per acre for banjar kadim and ` 1,29,440/- per acre for gair mumkin kinds of land. Dissatisfied with the award of the Collector, the landowners filed objections. On reference, the learned court below vide award dated 23.5.2007 determined the market value of the acquired land @ ` 3,20,000/- per acre. Aggrieved against the award of learned Court below, the landowners as well as the State of Haryana are before this Court. Learned counsel for the landowners submitted that acquisition in the present case was for the purpose of construction of Pataudi Distributory for which land of many villages was acquired. The issue regarding determination of R.F.A. No. 3804 of 2007 -2- compensation of 8-9 villages has already been considered in RFA No. 459 of 2008 Luxmi Narayan vs State of Haryana and others, decided on 1.9.2010, wherein the award of the learned court below assessing the compensation for the land acquired in villages Pataudi, Narhera, Bir Khurd and Khor @ ` 11,00,000/- per acre and in villages Pahari, Mojabad, Brijpura, Dadawas, and Heraheri @ ` 9,00,000/- per acre was upheld. In the present case, the land pertains to village Jaitpur Shekhpur, which is located between villages Brijpura and Mojabad. The value of the land for the aforesaid two villages had been assessed @ ` 9,00,000/- per acre whereas in the present case the same is merely ` 3,20,000/- per acre. As there is judicial precedent available wherein the value of the land has been determined pertaining to the neighbouring villages whose land was acquired for the same purpose, there is no reason to deny the landowners in the present set of appeals the same amount of compensation. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State submitted that it is a case of no evidence. The onus to prove that the award of the Collector is not just and fair was on the landowners. To discharge the same they have not been able to produce and prove on record any evidence which could show that the value of the land as has been determined by the Collector was not just and fair. Merely because in another case value of the land pertaining to neighbouring villages has been assessed at high rate, the landowners of other village cannot possibly be awarded the same compensation as the value of the land may vary from village to village. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the paper-book. As far as location of the land is concerned, in terms of the detailed site plan produced in court by the learned counsel for the State showing the lay out plan of the Pataudi Distributory, it is evident that the same passes through village Brijpura and then while crossing village Baharheri Rahnwan and Jaitpur Shekhpur reached to villages Mojabad and Pahari. This court in Luxmi Narayan's case (supra), upheld the award of the learned court below assessing the compensation @ ` 9,00,000/- per acre for the land of villages Brijpura and Mojabad. Apparently in the site plan produced on record, it was not pointed out that there was any special advantage available for the land pertaining to villages Brijpura and Mojabad as compared to the land of village Jaitpur Shekhpur which is under consideration in the present set of appeals. The value of the acquired land of the two villages @ ` 9,00,000/- per acre has already been upheld by this court in Luxmi Narayan's case (supra) in appeals filed by the landowners. It would be out of place if not mentioned here that State was not aggrieved of the award of the learned court below in the cases pertaining to the land of other villages in which R.F.A. No. 3804 of 2007 -3- the award of the learned court below has been upheld by this court in Luxmi Narayan's case (supra). On account of the aforesaid reasons, I do not find any reason to deny the landowners in the present set of appeals, the same amount of compensation as they cannot be deprived of same treatment. Accordingly, the landowners are held entitled to ` 9,00,000/- per acre, as has been awarded to the landowners of villages Brijpura and Mojabad. They shall also be entitled to all statutory benefits available unde the Act. Hon'ble the Supreme Court in recent judgment in Civil Appeal No. 6515 of 2009 Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation vs Pran Sukh and others decided on 17.8.2010, to ensure that the landowners are not fleeced by the middleman in the process of disbursement of enhanced compensation, issued certain directions. I deem it appropriate to issue the same directions in the present set of appeals as well. The same are as under:- “With a view to ensure that the land owners are not fleeced by the middleman, we deem it proper to issue following further directions: (i) The Land Acquisition Collector shall depute officers subordinate to him now below the rank of Naib Tehsildar, who shall get in touch with all the land owners and/or their legal representatives and inform them about their entitlement and right to receive enhanced compensation. (ii) The concerned officers shall also instruct the land owners and/or their legal representatives to open saving bank account in case they already do not have such account. (iii) The bank account numbers of the land owners should be given to the Land Acquisition Collector within three months. (iv) The Land Acquisition Collector shall deposit the cheques of compensation in the bank accounts of the land owners.” In view of the above, the appeals filed by the State are dismissed and the appeals filed by the landowners are allowed. 24 .9.2010. (Rajesh Bindal) vs. Judge