... 1 ... IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY AT GOA FIRST APPEAL NO.152 OF 2003 1. Adolfo Braulio Cesario Rodrigues Fernandes (since deceased) 2. Alina Leonildes Tereza Rodrigues Fernandes 3. Alvito Cirilio Jose Rodrigues Fernandes 4. Ingelise Fernandes 5. Alzira Livia Temura Fernandes (since deceased) 6. Ascilia Issaura Silvina Fernandes 7. Ausberto Souza (since deceased) 8. Liana Martins Souza 9. Tecla Martins Souza 10. Martiniano Souza 11. Evelisa Souza 12. Vasco Souza 13. Livette Souza ... 2 ... 14. John Titus 15. Abelio Souza (deleted) 16. Arlette Souza All represented by constituted attorney, Adolfo Braulio Cesario Rodrigues Fernandes r/o E-321, Rua de Ourem, Panaji, Goa. ... Appellants v e r s u s 1. Deputy Collector (Dev) and Land Acquisition Officer, Panaji, Goa. 2. The Executive Engineer, Work Division XXIII, P.W.D., Panaji, Goa. ... Respondents Mr. E. Dias, Advocate for the appellants. Shri G. Shirodkar, Additional Government Advocate for the respondents. ... 3 ... CORAM: S. C. DHARMADHIKARI & N. A. BRITTO, JJ. Date : 05.09.2008. JUDGMENT: (Per N. A. Britto, J.) The appellants/applicants' land admeasuring 8250 sq.mtrs. of survey No.52/1 of Village Penha de France was acquired by the Government by Notification issued under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, published on the Gazette dated 10.11.1988 for the purpose of construction of approach road to the new Mandovi bridge, on Britona side, of Bardez Taluka. By award dated 08.02.1991, the Land Acquisition Officer was pleased to award to the appellants/applicants compensation at the rate of Rs.200/- per sq.mtr. 2. The Applicants' claim for enhancement of compensation at the rate of Rs.700/- per sq.mtr. came to be rejected by the learned Reference Court (District Judge, Panaji) by ... 4 ... judgment and award dated 30.07.2001 impugned in the present appeal. 3. We have heard the learned counsel on behalf of the parties. 4. We find that the applicants had produced a agreement dated 23.07.1984 between the applicants and one Joe Matias by which the property including the acquired area was agreed to be sold at the rate of Rs.400/- per sq.mtr., and, in support of the same, the said Joe Matias was examined as Aw.3. The applicants had also examined an expert namely, Architect Shri Subhash Bhobe as Aw.4 who had valued the acquired property at the rate of Rs.700/- per sq.mtr. The applicants had also produced a sale instance in respect of a developed plot for which the market value was fixed at the rate of Rs.500/- per sq.mtr. but which on auction was sold at the rate of Rs.501/- per sq.mtr. and in support of the same, the applicants had examined Shri Bikaji Salgaonkar, Assistant Engineer of Goa Housing Board. ... 5 ... 5. It may be true that the agreement between the applicants and the said Joe Matias was for developing the land for commercial purpose and in fact that was a plus point in favour of the applicants which otherwise has been considered as a minus point by the learned Reference Court. The learned Reference Court has also ignored the opinion of the Expert and for no apparent reason. Order of allotment at Exh.Aw.2/A also does not appear to be considered in proper perspective. Last but not the least, the learned Reference Court accepted the evidence of the respondents' witness Shri Prabhakar Gupta Rw.1 when he stated that the acquired land came within the control line of the National Highway, when the Notification prescribing the set back area as 75 mtrs. was w.e.f. 12.09.1990 and not on the date of Notification under section 4 of the Act which would be relevant date. The learned counsel on behalf of the applicants submits that at the relevant time the set back was 15 mtrs. but this submission does not appear to have been made before the learned Reference Court nor the Notification was produced for perusal of the Court. Ex facie, the said Notification being subsequent to the date of Notification could not ... 6 ... be considered against the applicants. 6. Considering the above, we deem it proper to allow this appeal and set aside the impugned order and remand the case for re-consideration of the learned Reference Court to assess the evidence, produced by both the parties in proper perspective. The applicants would be at liberty to produce before the learned Reference Court the relevant Notification issued prior to 12.09.1990. The parties are directed to appear before the learned Reference Court on 06.10.2008 at 10.00 a.m. The learned Reference Court is directed to dispose off the reference after hearing the parties as expeditiously as possible and in any event within a period of three months thereafter. S. C. DHARMADHIKARI, J. N. A. BRITTO, J. lh/. ... 7 ...