RFA No. 456 of 2009 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH RFA No. 456 of 2009 (O&M) Date of decision : 28.10.2010. Khyali Ram and others ..... Appellants vs State of Haryana and others ..... Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Mr. S. S. Godara, Advocate, for the landowners. Mr. Ashish Gupta, Assistant Advocate General, Haryana. Rajesh Bindal J. This order will dispose of the appeals bearing RFA Nos. 456 to 467 and 3385 of 2009, as the same arise out of common acquisition. The landowners are in appeals before this court against the award of the learned court below passed under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, 'the Act') seeking enhancement of compensation for the acquired land. Briefly, the facts of the case are that vide notification dated 25.9.2001 issued under Section 4 of the Act, the State of Haryana, acquired 11.31 acres of land situated in the revenue estate of Villages Dayyar and Jandwala Bagar, Tehsil and District Fatehabad, for construction of Chaharwala minor from RD 0 to 23500 taking off at RD 103400/R Kheri Disty and for RD 0 to 15150 in village Dayyar and Jandwala Bagar. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, “the Collector”) vide his award dated 22.10.2003, assessed the market value of the acquired land @ ` 1,20,000/- per acre for nehri, ` 60,000/- per acre for Tibba, ` 72,000/- per acre for Tal, and ` 2,00,000/- per acre for gair mumkin kind of land. Dissatisfied with the award of the Collector, the landowners filed objections. On reference under Section 18 of the Act, the learned court below determined the market value of the acquired land @ ` 2,50,000/- per acre for all kinds of land. It is against this award that the landowners have filed the present set of appeals. The only contention raised by learned counsel for the landowners, which was quite fair enough, was that land in question was acquired for the purpose of construction of Chaharwala minor from RD 0 to 23500 taking off at RD 103400/R Kheri Disty and for RD 0 to 15150 in village Dayyar and Jandwala RFA No. 456 of 2009 -2- Bagar, which divided the land belonging to various landowners into two parts. However, no compensation on account of severance has been awarded to them. Placing reliance upon judgment of this court in RFA No. 394 of 1998- Ajmer Singh and others vs State of Haryana, decided on 18.4.2009, pertaining to acquisition of land of village Rori, Tehsil and District Sirsa, for construction of a drain, it was submitted that while upholding the award of the learned court below in that case, this court had awarded 25% of the value of the land as compensation on account of severance. The submission was that in the present case the landowners whose land has been divided into two parts be also awarded that amount on account of severance. Learned counsel for the State did not dispute that in Ajmer Singh's case (supra), this court had awarded 25% of the value of the land as compensation on account of severance. After hearing learned counsel for the parties and considering their fair stand, I do not find any reason to deny the landowners the same relief as was granted to the landowners pertaining to village Rori, whose land was acquired for the same purpose, namely, for construction of Rori-Ghaggar Drain. As far as the award of compensation for the acquired land is concerned, the same is upheld whereas on account of severance, the landowners are held entitled to same relief as has been awarded in Ajmer Singh's case (supra). The landowners shall also be entitled to all statutory benefits available under the Act. The appeals are disposed of. 28.10.2010 (Rajesh Bindal) vs. Judge