R.F.A. No. 519 of 2008 [ 1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH R.F.A. No. 519 of 2008 (O&M) Date of decision: April 08, 2011 Baru Ram .. Appellant v. State of Haryana .. Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL Present: Mr. R. N. Lohan and Mr. Munish Behl, Advocates for the land owners. Mr. H. S. Hooda, Advocate General, Haryana with Mr. Ashish Gupta, Assistant Advocate General, Haryana. ... Rajesh Bindal J. This order will dispose of R.F.A. Nos. 519 to 521, 3230, 3231, 4399 of 2008, 2303 to 2308, 3738, 4192 to 4206 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. 519 of 2008. Briefly, the facts of the case are that vide notification dated 7.6.2000, published on 27.6.2000, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act'), State of Haryana sought to acquire 96 kanals and 11 marlas of land, situated at Narwana for R.F.A. No. 519 of 2008 [ 2] construction of Sub Divisional Complex and residential houses at Narwana. The same was followed by notification dated 16.2.2001, published on 27.3.2001, issued under Section 6 of the Act. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, `the Collector') assessed the market value of the acquired land @ ` 8,00,000/- per acre for the land located on the road upto one acre; ` 5,00,000/- per acre for the land located after one acre upto 2 acres and ` 2,50,000/- per acre for the land located beyond that. 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 @ ` 600/- per square yard for the land located upto one acre; ` 375/- per square yard for the land situated after one acre but upto 2 acres and ` 187.50 per square yard for the land located behind that. It is this award of the learned court below, which is impugned before this court. Learned counsel for the land owners submitted that the land in question is located within the municipal limits of Narwana and abutting National Highway No. 71. It was acquired for the purpose of construction of Sub Divisional Complex and residential houses at Narwana. The area in the vicinity had already been developed and was being used for residential and commercial purposes. Bus stand of Narwana was not located at a far off place. The land in question had a great future potentiality. The amount of compensation as assessed by the court below was not just and fair considering the evidence produced on record by the land owners in the form of sale deeds Ex. P1 (also marked as Ex. P5), Ex. P4, Ex. PX and Ex. PY. Land dealt with in sale deed (Ex. P1) is forming part of the acquired land. In addition to that, the minimum Collector's rates fixed for registration of sale deeds in the year 2002-03 were also produced as Ex. P2. Considering the aforesaid facts, it would not be reasonable to assess the value of the acquired land at the rate, which has been assessed by the court below and the same deserves to be enhanced. It was further submitted that the learned court below has assessed the compensation by carving out three belts, which should be done away with and the entire chunk of land should be assessed at the same rate. R.F.A. No. 519 of 2008 [ 3] On the other hand, learned Advocate General submitted that the amount of compensation assessed by the learned court below is quite on higher side. Sale deed (Ex. P1), on which the learned court below has placed reliance was registered in the year 1992. Even if increase is to be awarded for the time gap from the registration of sale deed till the issuance of notification under Section 4 of the Act, the same should not be more than 10% per annum and thereafter a reasonable cut also is required to be applied considering the fact that the sale deed was for a plot of five marlas. He further submitted that the minimum rates fixed by the Collector for registration of sale deeds cannot be relied upon as such for the purpose of assessment of fair value of the acquired land. There is nothing wrong in applying the belting method for assessing the value of the acquired land as the land abutting the road is always more valuable than the portion of land which is located behind it. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the relevant referred record. A perusal of site plans (Ex. P2 and Ex. P3) shows that the acquired land is abutting National Highway No. 71. New bus stand has been shown approximately 380 meters from the acquired land. Close to the acquired land, number of shops and other commercial and industrial establishments have been shown. As far as valuation of the land is concerned, the land owners have produced on record four sale deeds. None of them except sale deed (Ex. P1) is relevant. It is not disputed that the land pertaining thereto is forming part of the acquired land. The aforesaid sale deed was registered on 25.3.1992, vide which five marlas of land was sold for a consideration of ` 40,000/-. Notification under Section 4 of the Act in the present case was issued on 7.6.2000. Any sale transaction pertaining to land forming part of the acquired land is the best evidence to be considered for the purpose of assessment of fair value thereof. The fact of which judicial notice can be taken is that Narwana town was expanding. It is for this reason that a new Sub Divisional Complex was sought to be constructed. New bus stand was proposed and further subsequent thereto in May, 2002, R.F.A. No. 519 of 2008 [ 4] the land was acquired for development as food park. Another fact, which is not in dispute, is that the acquired land is located within the municipal limits of Narwana. The learned court below while assessing the compensation has awarded increase thereon @ 12% per annum cumulative, which came out to ` 654/- per square yard. However, the compensation finally awarded was ` 600/- per square yard for the land upto the depth of one acre on the main road. For the land located within one acre to two acres, compensation was assessed @ ` 375/- per square yard and for the land located behind that, compensation was assessed @ ` 187.50 per square yard. As far as valuation of the land on the main road is concerned, I do not find any illegality has been committed by the learned court below considering the fact that even the minimum rates fixed for registration of sale deeds by the Collector in that area was ` 600/- per square yard. This itself may not be sufficient to assess the value of the acquired land, however, once in terms of evidence in the form of sale deed forming part of the acquired land is available and if calculated on that basis, the value of the land comes close to the minimum rates fixed by the Collector for registration of sale deeds and the same can certainly be considered as a corroborative evidence. The contention raised by learned counsel for the State that a cut should have been applied is merely to be noticed and rejected considering the fact that the land is located within the municipal limits, where the same will always be sold in the form of small plots and not in acres. The area acquired is also 96 kanals and 11 marlas, which had great potentiality considering the fact that even tourist complex at Narwana has been constructed beyond the acquired land, if we move from Narwana city towards the acquired land. System of belting for valuation of the acquired land also cannot be faulted with for the reason that there is always difference in the value of the acquired land, which is located on the main road and which is located beyond that. R.F.A. No. 519 of 2008 [ 5] For the reasons mentioned above, I do not find any merit in the appeals. Accordingly, the same are dismissed. (Rajesh Bindal) Judge April 08 , 2011 mk