R. F. A No. 1847 of 1988 1 In the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh R. F. A No. 1847 of 1988 (O&M) Date of decision : 23.9.2008. Ram Kumar and others ..... Appellants vs The State of Haryana and another ... Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: None for the appellants. Mr. Lekh Raj Nandal, Assistant Advocate General, Haryana. Rajesh Bindal J. The landowners have approached this court through the present appeal for further enhancement in the compensation. Briefly, the facts are that vide notification no. 15136 dated 19.12.1983, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, 'the Act'), the State of Haryana acquired land in Villages Assaudha Siwan and Assaudha Todran, Tehsil Bahadurgarh, District Rohtak, for public purpose namely for extension of Sardara Sub-minor. The Land Acquisition Collector vide his award dated 12.3.1985 assessed the market value of the land at Rs. 13,800/- per acre for chahi/nehri, Rs. 11,500/- per acre for barani and Rs. 9,200/- per acre for gair mumkin kind of land. Dissatisfied with the award of the Land Acquisition Collector, the landowners/claimants filed objections. On reference under Section 18 of the Act, the learned court below vide award dated 12.8.1988, determined the market value of the acquired land at Rs. 28,000/- per acre for nehri/ chahi and Rs. 23,000/- per acre for barani kind of land. No one has appeared for the appellants. Learned counsel for the State has not pointed out as to whether any other appeal arising out same acquisition has either been decided or pending in this court. A perusal of the award shows that as against the value of the land determined by the Collector at Rs. 13,800/- per acre for chahi/nehri, R. F. A No. 1847 of 1988 2 Rs. 11,500/- per acre for barani, the learned court below had determined market value of the acquired land at Rs. 28,000/- per acre for nehri/ chahi and Rs. 23,000/- per acre for barani kind of land. For arriving at such conclusion, reliance was placed on an earlier award of the court below for acquisition of land in Village Jassere Kheri vide notification dated 1.4.1980, where the value of the land was determined at Rs. 25,000/- per acre for nehri land and Rs. 20,000/- per acre for barani kind of land. The other sale- deeds produced by the landowners were not considered as such, as it was found as a fact that the land forming part of the sale-deeds relied upon by the learned court below was not situated near by the land in the present case. In addition to the award Ex. P-2, dated 1.9.1987 relied upon by the learned court below, the only other evidence produced by the landowners is the photocopy of the sale-deed dated 25.8.1982, Ex. P-1, where the value of the land was shown as Rs. 39,600/- per acre. However, in the absence of the location of the land in the sale-deed, the same could not be relied upon and the best piece of evidence which was found worth consideration for the court below was the earlier award, Ex. P-2, where the value of the land was determined after consideration of evidence at Rs. 25,000/- and Rs. 20,000/- per acre for nehri and barani kind of land, respectively. If the base is taken in terms of the value of the land as given in Ex. P-2 where the acquisition was vide notification dated 1.4.1980, the reasonable increase for time gap in between two acquisitions can very well be granted. The acquisition in the present case is vide notification dated 19.12.1983. Keeping in view the time gap of 2 years and 8 months between the two acquisitions, in my opinion, 25% increase would be reasonable. Accordingly, the value of the land in the present acquisition is determined at Rs. 31,250/- per acre for nehri and Rs. 25,000/- per acre for barani kind of land. The appellants shall also be entitled to statutory benefits available under the Act. The appeal is disposed of in the above terms. 23.9.2008 ( Rajesh Bindal) vs. Judge