R.F.A. No. 2096 of 2008 [1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH R.F.A. No. 2096 of 2008 (O&M) Date of decision: 10.11.2010 State of Haryana and another .. Appellants v. Surinder Kumar and another .. Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL Present: Mr. Ashish Gupta, Assistant Advocate General, Haryana. Mr. Akshay Jain, Mr. S. K. Jain, Mr. P. K. Ganga, Mr. P.S. Jammu, Mr. Sandeep Punchhi, Mr. Sachin Gupta for Mr. Rajesh Sethi, Advocates for the land owners. ... Rajesh Bindal J. This order will dispose of R.F.A. Nos. 2096 to 2099, 2101 to 2167, 2850, 3471 to 3489, 3988 to 3995, 4730, 4731, 5213, 5215, 5216, 5403, 5408 to 5414, 5485 of 2008 and R.F.A. Nos. 269 and 3699 of 2009 as common questions of law and facts are involved. In the appeals filed by the land owners, they are seeking further enhancement of compensation for the acquired land, whereas in the appeals filed by the State, the prayer is for reduction thereof. The facts have been extracted from R.F.A. No. 2096 of 2008. Briefly, the facts of the case are that vide notification dated 4.3.2004, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act'), State of Haryana acquired 43.71 acres of land falling in the revenue estates of villages Jhorarnali, Dhanoor, Dhotar, Darewala, Kharian, Bhoona and Banwala, Tehsil Rania, District Sirsa for construction of Ghaggar-Bani-Sadewa- Mamerakhera Link Channel from RD 0 to 79217 Tail with increased capacity off R.F.A. No. 2096 of 2008 [2] taking at RD 29500-R Ghaggar River and outfalling at RD 138762 M. M. K. Distributory. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, `the Collector'), assessed the market value of the acquired land as under: “Name of the village Nehri Chahi Barani in ` in ` in ` ................................................................................................................................................... Dhotter 1,10,000/- per acre 1,10,000/- per acre 50,000/- per acre Kharian 80,000/- per acre - 45,000/- per acre Bhuna 80,000/- per acre - 45,000/- per acre Jhorarnali 1,30,000/- per acre 1,10,000/- per acre 70,000/- per acre” Dissatisfied with the award of the Collector, the land owners filed objections. On reference under Section 18 of the Act, the learned court below assessed the market value of the acquired land as under: “Name of the village Nehri Chahi Barani in ` in ` in ` ................................................................................................................................................... Dhotter 4,91,724/- per acre 4,21,478/- per acre 2,80,985/- per acre Kharian 4,91,724/- per acre - 2,80,985/- per acre Bhuna 4,91,724/- per acre - 2,80,985/- per acre Jhorarnali 4,91,724/- per acre 4,21,478/- per acre 2,80,985/- per acre” The only argument raised by learned counsel for the land owners was that classification of the land, as has been done by the learned court below deserves to be set aside, whereby the acquired land has been categorised as Nehri, Chahi and Barani. In support of the submission, it was submitted that undisputedly the land in question was acquired for the purpose of increasing the capacity of Ghaggar-Bani-Sadew-Mamerakhera Link Channel. Originally, the land for the purpose of construction of the channel was acquired vide notification dated 23.3.2001. With the construction of the channel, it cannot be opined that part of the land was Nehri, Chahi and Barani as availability of water for irrigation was there. The land should be categorised as Nehri. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State submitted that classification of the land has been made on the basis of the revenue record, which should not be disturbed. This issue was never raised before the learned court below. The assessment of compensation otherwise for the acquired land has been made by the learned court below relying upon the award pertaining to the earlier R.F.A. No. 2096 of 2008 [3] acquisition, which has been upheld by this court. The award as such does not call for any interference by this court. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the relevant referred record. In the present case, 43.71 acres of land was acquired for the purpose of increasing the capacity of Ghaggar-Bani-Sadew-Mamerakhera Link Channel. Originally, the land for construction of the aforesaid channel was acquired vide notification dated 23.3.2001. With the construction of channel and availability of water, it cannot be said that any portion of the land would remain Barani or should be treated as Nehri and compensation assessed accordingly. For the aforesaid reasons, in my opinion, it would be reasonable to award compensation to the land owners for the entire acquired land @ ` 4,91,724/- per acre by treating the same as Nehri. Ordered accordingly. The land owners shall also be entitled to all the statutory benefits available to them under the Act. Accordingly, the appeals filed by the land owners are accepted in the manner indicated above, whereas the appeals filed by the State are dismissed. ( Rajesh Bindal ) Judge 10.11.2010 mk