Regular First Appeal No. 3622 of 2009 (O&M) -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Regular First Appeal No. 3622 of 2009 (O&M) Date of decision : December 23, 2009 State of Haryana ....Appellant versus Tilak Raj and others ....Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice L.N. Mittal Present : Mr. Ashish Gupta, AAG Haryana for the appellant Mr. Adish Gupta, Advocate, for respondent nos. 9 to 14 None for respondent nos. 1 to 8 L.N. Mittal, J. (Oral) Notice of motion. With the consent of learned counsel for the parties, the appeal is taken up for hearing for final disposal today itself. State of Haryana has filed this appeal challenging award dated 13.2.2009 passed by learned Additional District Judge, Faridabad whereby reference petition filed by respondent no. 1 herein against appellant and respondent nos. 2 to 14 herein under sections 18 and 30 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (in short, the Act) has been disposed of and market value of the acquired land of respondents situated in village Unchangaon has been determined to be Rs 450/- per square yard and interse dispute Regular First Appeal No. 3622 of 2009 (O&M) -2- between respondent no. 1 and respondent nos. 2 to 14 herein has also been adjudicated upon. In the instant appeal, State of Haryana is aggrieved only by the determination of market value of the acquired land. Notification dated 8.5.1995 was issued under section 4 of the Act for acquiring 52 acres of land in village Unchangaon for public purpose i.e. for development of Sector 61, Faridabad under the Haryana Urban Development Authority Act, 1977 for HUDA. Land Acquisition Collector vide award no. 4 dated 30.4.1998 determined the market value of the acquired land at Rs 4 lacs per acre. The reference court vide impugned award determined the market value of the acquired land to be Rs 450/- per square yard relying on judgment dated 3.5.2006 passed by this Court in RFA No. 2501 of 2001, titled Ved Pal and others versus State of Haryana and others. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the case file. In the case of Ved Pal (supra) land had been acquired in village Jharsentli within the municipal limits of Faridabad for establishing Transport Nagar in Sector 61, Faridabad for which notification dated 8.5.1995 was issued under section 4 of the Act. Land was also acquired in village Malerna vide notification dated 9.5.1995 under section 4 of the Act for Sector 62, Faridabad, vide notification dated 12.5.1995 in village Unchangaon for Sector 64, Faridabad and vide notification dated 22.5.1995 in village Chandrawali for Sector 65, Faridabad. This Court vide judgment dated 3.5.2006 in the case of Ved Pal (supra) determined the market value of acquired land of village Jharsentli for establishing Transport Nagar in Sector 61, Faridabad to be Rs 500/- per square yard and determined the Regular First Appeal No. 3622 of 2009 (O&M) -3- market value of acquired land in other villages including village Unchangaon at the rate of Rs 450/- per square yard. Learned counsel for the appellant contended that although judgment in the case of Ved Pal (supra) had attained finality yet the instant appeal cannot be said to be covered by the said judgment because the land of village Unchangaon in that case was acquired for establishing Sector 64, Faridabad whereas land in the instant case was acquired for establishing Sector 61, Faridabad. However, learned counsel for the respondents-land owners vehemently contended that the instant appeal is squarely covered by the judgment in the case of Ved Pal (supra) because notification under section 4 of the Act for acquiring the land of village Unchangaon in that case was issued on 12.5.1995 for Sector 64, Faridabad and in the instant case notification under section 4 of the Act was issued on 8.5.1995 i.e. just four days before the notification in the case of Ved Pal (supra) for establishing Sector 61, Faridabad. I have carefully considered the rival contentions. In the case of Ved Pal (supra) market value of acquired land of village Jharsentli for establishing Transport Nagar in Sector 61, Faridabad was held to be Rs 500/- per square yard. In the instant case, land of village Unchangaon has been acquired for establishing Sector 61, Faridabad i.e. the same sector in which the Transport Nagar in land of village Jharsentli was to be established in the case of Ved Pal (supra). Moreover, land of Unchangaon was also involved in the case of Ved Pal (supra) for establishing Sector 64, Faridabad. Consequently, it is apparent that the instant appeal is fully covered by judgment of Ved Pal (supra) because the land of the same village is involved in the instant appeal which was also Regular First Appeal No. 3622 of 2009 (O&M) -4- involved in the case of Ved Pal (supra) and notifications under section 4 of the Act were issued in the two cases with gap of four days only. In view of the aforesaid, it becomes manifest that the reference court has rightly determined the market value of acquired land at the rate of Rs 450/- per square yard, following the judgment of this Court in the case of Ved Pal (supra). Consequently, there is no merit in the instant appeal which is accordingly dismissed. ( L.N. Mittal ) December 23, 2009 Judge 'dalbir'