R.F.A. No. 592 of 1988 [ Page numbers] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH R.F.A. No. 592 of 1988 Date of decision: October 21 , 2008 Smt. Gulab Kaur .. Appellant v. State of Punjab and another .. Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL Present: None Rajesh Bindal J. The land owner is in appeal against the award of the learned Court below seeking enhancement in compensation on account of acquisition of land. Briefly, the facts are that land measuring 6 bighas 10 biswas (1.35 acres) situated within the revenue estate of Village Jassowal was acquired vide notification dated 23.1.1981 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act') for construction of Patiala-Bhadson road. The same was followed by notification dated 5.6.1981 issued under Section 6 of the Act. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, `the Collector') assessed the value of the acquired land at Rs. 48,000/- per acre. To the value so assessed by the Collector, the appellant filed objections which were referred to the learned District Judge, Patiala, who keeping in view the material placed on record by the parties, awarded Rs. 50,000/- per acre. No one has appeared for the parties. A perusal of the record shows that the land was acquired for widening and construction of a road, where kacha passage already existed. The land owner produced in evidence two sale deeds Ex. P.1 and P.2 dated 18.8.1980 showing sale of 10 biswas of land with an average value of Rs. 96,000/- per acre, whereas the State, on the other hand, produced six sale deeds, the details of which are extracted below: Sr. Ex. Area sold Date of sale Sale price Price per acre No. No. ................................................................................................................ B - B 1. Ex.R.1 10-9 7.5.1980 Rs. 25,000/- Rs. 11,483.25 2. Ex.R.2 9-00 8.5.1980 Rs. 44,000/- Rs. 23,466.66 R.F.A. No. 592 of 1988 [ Page numbers] 3. Ex.R.3 8-6 8.5.1980 Rs. 46,000/- Rs. 26,602.40 4. Ex.R.4 10-17 12.5.1980 Rs. 25,000/- Rs. 11,059.90 5. Ex.R.5 10-10 2.4.1980 Rs. 25,000/- Rs. 11,428.53 6. Ex.R.6 0-16 5.11.1980 Rs. 7,500/- Rs. 45,000/- The learned Court below on perusal of site plan (Ex. R.7) came to the conclusion that the sale deeds produced by the appellant were pertaining to the land which is situated far away from the acquired land towards Patiala town, whereas out of the six sale deeds produced by the State, except sale deed (Ex.R.6), the land in other sale deeds were situated quite close to the acquired land and the average value thereof was Rs. 27,000/- per acre. The Collector in the present case had awarded a sum of Rs. 48,000/- per acre as the compensation for the acquired land, which was further increased to Rs. 50,000/- per acre by the learned Court below. As no one has appeared for the parties, the appeal is dismissed for non-prosecution. (Rajesh Bindal) Judge October 21 , 2008 mk