HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE A. GOPAL REDDY AND HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE RAJA. ELANGO A.S. No. 186 OF 2002 Dated 8th June, 2010. BETWEEN The Land Acquisition Officer-cum-M.R.O. Nannur,Medak District. …Appellant/Referring Officer And Chokla ….Respondent/claimant HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE A. GOPAL REDDY AND HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE RAJA. ELANGO A.S. No. 186 OF 2002 JUDGMENT: (Per Hon’ble Sri Justice A. Gopal Reddy) This Appeal under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 is ﬁled by the Land Acquisition Oﬃcer-cum-Mandal Revenue Oﬃcer, Nannur, Medak District, aggrieved by the enhancement of the compensation made by the learned Additional District Judge, Medak in the judgment dated 16.8.2001 passed in O.P.No. 555 of 1989. An extent of Ac.1.20 Guntas of the land belonging to the claimant/respondent comprised in Sy.No. 4/37/A of Karasgutti village in Choukla Thanda of Manoor Mandal was acquired for the purpose of providing house sites to the Scheduled Tribes. The draft notiﬁcation under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act was published on 25.3.1987. The Land Acquisition Oﬃcer, after completing the due and necessary formalities envisaged under the Land Acquisition Act, ﬁxed the market value of the land acquired at Rs.3,200/- per acre. The claimant received the said compensation under protest and sought for reference to the competent Civil Court for determination of the correct, adequate and reasonable compensation for the acquired land. On such reference, the Reference Court registered the reference as OP.No. 555 of 1989, in which the claimants ﬁled necessary claim statement seeking enhancement of compensation. In order to substantiate his claim for enhancement of compensation, the claimant examined himself as P.W.1 apart from examining P.Ws. 2 and 3 and marked Exs. A.1 to A.6. On the other hand, in order to dislodge the claim of the claimant and to establish the market value ﬁxed and compensation awarded by the Land Acquisition Oﬃcer as adequate, reasonable and suﬃcient, R.W.1 was examined and Exs.B.1 and B.2 were marked on his behalf. The Reference Court, on appreciation of oral and documentary evidence, enhanced and ﬁxed the market value of the acquired land at Rs.8.00 per square yard after deducing 1/3rd towards developmental charges. Aggrieved by the said enhancement, the present appeal is preferred. Heard the learned Counsel on both sides. Perused the material on record. P.W.1 in his evidence deposed that the acquired land is situated by the side of the road leading from Karnataka State to Maharashtra State; that in the year 1982 the Government acquired the land in the same village and on reference, the Court below enhanced the market value to Rs.1.50 Paise per square yard in the judgment Ex.A.1; that for the lands acquired belonging to one Ghemia and Bhajiya of the same village, on reference, the Court awarded market value at Rs.8.00 per square yard under judgment Ex.A.2 and no appeal said to have been preferred against the said judgment and the same has become final; that one Prasad sold 150 Sq. Yards of land to one Shankerlal on 16.5.1986 for a consideration of Rs.3,000/- i.e. @ Rs.20/- per square yard under Ex.A.3 sale deed, and that one Gurappa sold the land for the same value under Ex.A.4 sale deed. P.W.2 deposed that his land was acquired by the Government and the Court, on reference, ﬁxed the market value at Rs.8.00 per square yard under Ex.A.2 decree. P.W.3 deposed that he purchased 150 Sq. Yards of land under Ex.A.4 sale deed for a consideration of Rs.3,000/-. R.W.1 deposed that the land in Sy.No. 4/2 was sold on 4.10.1985 @ Rs.1920/- per acre under Ex.B.2 sale deed and that therefore, the compensation awarded by the Land Acquisition Oﬃcer is legal, adequate and proper., However, the Reference Court, considering the evidence on record, rightly, rejected the same on the ground that the same is not suﬃcient to support their version. The Reference Court ﬁxed the market value of the subject land relying on the sale statistics exhibited by the claimant. The ﬁxation of the market value of the acquired lands from the same village can safely be taken into consideration for ﬁxation of the market value of the subject lands as comparative and representative sales. Therefore, the Reference Court rightly ﬁxed the market value of the acquired land at Rs.8.00 per square yard after deducting 1/3rd towards developmental charges. For the foregoing discussion, we do not see any ground to interfere with the judgment under appeal. The appeal is accordingly dismissed. No order as to costs. --------------------------------------- JUSTICE A. GOPAL REDDY ----------------------------------- JUSTICE RAJA ELANGO Date: 08-06-2010. Msnr.