RFA No. 2525 of 1997 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH RFA No. 2525 of 1997 (O&M) Date of decision : 28.10.2010. Dhanna Singh and others ..... Appellants vs The State of Haryana ..... Respondent Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Mr. Sandeep Punchhi and Mr. C. M. Munjal, Advocates, for the landowners. Mr. Ashish Gupta, Assistant Advocate General, Haryana. Rajesh Bindal J. This order will dispose of the appeals bearing RFA Nos. 2525 and 2541 of 1997, 780, 1045 to 1050, 1052 to 1059, 1081, 1172 to 1175, 1271, 1350, 1540 of 1998, 6, 7 and 573 of 1999, as the same arise out of common acquisition. The landowners are in appeal before this court against the award of the learned court below passed under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, 'the Act') seeking enhancement of compensation for the acquired land. Briefly, the facts of the case are that vide notification dated 5.10.1992 issued under Section 4 of the Act, the State of Haryana, acquired 26.85 acres of land situated in the revenue estate of Village Baragudha, Tehsil and District Sirsa, for construction of Rori-Ghaggar Drain from RD 31500 to RD 73450 (including link drain no. 1 from RD 3500 to Jhorar-Rohi). The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, “the Collector”) vide his award dated 1.12.1994, assessed the market value of the acquired land @ ` 1,00,000/- per acre for nehri and ` 60,000/- per acre for barani kind of land. Dissatisfied with the award of the Collector, the landowners filed objections. On reference under Section 18 of the Act, the learned court below determined the market value of the acquired land @ ` 1,38,000/- per acre for nehri land but upheld the award of the Collector regarding barani kind of land. RFA No. 2525 of 1997 -2- Vide another notification of the same date i.e. dated 5.10.1992 issued under Section 4 of the Act, the State of Haryana, acquired 33.92 acres of land situated in the revenue estate of Village Jhorar Rohi, Tehsil and District Sirsa, for the same purpose. The Collector vide his award dated 1.12.1994, assessed the market value of the acquired land @ ` 1,00,000/- per acre for nehri and ` 60,000/- per acre for barani/ gair mumkin, gadha khad, mariyan, kinds of land. Dissatisfied with the award of the Collector, the landowners filed objections. On reference under Section 18 of the Act, the learned court below determined the market value of the acquired land @ ` 1,25,000/- per acre for nehri/ gair mumkin khad/ mariyan, ` 75,000/- per acre for barani kind of land. Still dissatisfied, the landowners have filed the present set of appeals before this court. The only contention raised by the learned counsel for the landowners was that no compensation on account of severance was awarded by the court below. It was submitted that due to construction of drain, the land of the landowners was divided into two parts and it has become difficult for them to cultivate the same. It was pointed out by them that this court in RFA No. 394 of 1998 Ajmer Singh and others vs State of Haryana, decided on 18.4.2009, upheld the award of the learned court below, however, the landowners were held entitled to compensation @ 25% on account of severance. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State submitted that the learned court below has awarded just and fair compensation for the acquired land as per the evidence led by the landowners themselves which does not call for any intereference by this court. As far as argument of the learned counsels for the landowners for grant of severance is concerned, it was submitted that the court below has awarded sufficient amount of compensation and they do not deserve any more compensation. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the relevant referred record. As far as submission of the learned counsels for the landowners regarding grant of severance is concerned, no doubt, due to construction of canal/road/drain, it becomes difficult for the landowners to access divided portion of their field and cultivate the same. Due to bifurcation of land it is difficult for them to irrigate other portion of land. In Ajmer Singh's case (supra), this court had awarded compensation on account of severance @ 25% to the landowners of village Rori, whose land was also aquired for the same purpose vide notification of the same date. Accordingly, the landowners in the present set of appeals are also RFA No. 2525 of 1997 -3- entitled 25% of the value of the land as compensation on account of severance. They shall also be entitled to all the statutory benefits available under the Act. The appeals stand disposed of accordingly. 28.10.2010 (Rajesh Bindal) vs. Judge