R. F. A No. 154 of 1994 (O&M) -1- In the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh Date of decision : 1.4.2009 1. R. F. A No. 154 of 1994 and cross-objection no. 26/CI of 1998 (O&M) The State of Punjab ..... Appellant vs Gian Singh and others ... Respondents 2. R. F. A No. 1520 of 1993 (O&M) Pritam Kaur and others ..... Appellants vs State of Punjab and another ... Respondents 3. R. F. A No. 155 of 1994 (O&M) The State of Punjab ..... Appellant vs Labh Singh and others ... Respondents 4. R. F. A No. 156 of 1994 and Cross Objection No. 27-CI of 1998(O&M) The State of Punjab ..... Appellants vs Om Parkash and others ... Respondents 5. R. F. A No. 157 of 1994 and Cross objection No. 19-CI of 1998(O&M) The State of Punjab ..... Appellant vs Rattan Singh and others ... Respondents 6. R. F. A No. 158 of 1994 (O&M) The State of Punjab ..... Appellant vs Sukhdev Singh and others ... Respondents 7. R. F. A No. 159 of 1994 and Cross objection No. 28-CI of 1998(O&M) The State of Punjab ..... Appellant vs Gurdial Singh and others ... Respondents R. F. A No. 154 of 1994 (O&M) -2- 8. R. F. A No. 160 of 1994 and Cross objection No. 22-CI of 1998(O&M) The State of Punjab ..... Appellants vs Prem Singh and others ... Respondents 9. R. F. A No. 161 of 1994 (O&M) The State of Punjab ..... Appellant vs Pritam Kaur and others ... Respondents 10. R. F. A No. 162 of 1994 and Cross objection No. 23-CI of 1998(O&M) The State of Punjab ..... Appellant vs Gian Singh and others ... Respondents 11. R. F. A No. 163 of 1994 and Cross objection No. 20-CI of 1998 (O&M) The State of Punjab ..... Appellant vs Om Parkash ... Respondent 12. R. F. A No. 164 of 1994 (O&M) The State of Punjab ..... Appellant vs Hazara Singh and others ... Respondents 13. R. F. A No. 165 of 1994 (O&M) The State of Punjab ..... Appellant vs Nasib Singh ... Respondent 14. R. F. A No. 166 of 1994 and Cross objection No. 66-CI of 1997(O&M) The State of Punjab ..... Appellant vs Gurcharan Singh (deceased)through LRs and others ... Respondents R. F. A No. 154 of 1994 (O&M) -3- 15. R. F. A No. 167 of 1994 and Cross objection No. 21-CI of 1998(O&M) The State of Punjab ..... Appellants vs Balbir Singh ... Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Ms. Monika Jalota and Mr. Kuldip Sanwal, Advocates, for the landowners Mr. O. P. Dabla, Assistant Advocate General, Punjab. Rajesh Bindal J. This order shall dispose of Regular First Appeal No. 1520 of 1993 filed by the landowners and Regular First Appeal Nos. 154 to 167 of 1994 filed by the State of Punjab, as the same arise out of the common acquisition. The landowners have approached this court for enhancement of compensation and the State has approached for reduction in the compensation. In RFA Nos. 154, 156, 157, 159, 160, 162, 163, 166, 167 of 1994 the landowners have also filed cross-objection seeking enhancement of compensation. The facts have been extracted from R. F. A. No. 154 of 1994. Briefly, the facts are that vide notification dated 11.5.1988, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, 'the Act'), the State of Punjab, acquired the land situated in Village Rai Majra, Tehsil Rajpura, District Patiala, for construction of Natian Distributory. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, “the Collector”) assessed the market value of the land at Rs. 60,000/- per acre for chahi, Rs. 50,080/- per acre for rousli/dakkar and Rs. 35,040/- per acre for gair mumkin kind of land. Dissatisfied with the award of the Collector, the landowners/claimants filed objections. On reference under Section 18 of the Act, the learned court below enhanced the market value to Rs. one lac per acre for chahi, Rs. 83,500/- per acre for rousli/dakkar and Rs. 58,400/- per acre for gair mumkin kind of land. It is this award which is impugned in the present set of appeals. Learned counsel for the landowners have submitted that the learned court below has not appreciated the evidence led by the landowners R. F. A No. 154 of 1994 (O&M) -4- for determination of fair value of the acquired land. The distributory starts from Village Dhuman and goes further to Village Nalas Khurd after passing through Village Rai Majra. He stated that revenue limits of Nalas Khurd and Dhuman adjoin Rai Majra. The land of these villages is of the same potentiality. It was further stated that the land was not properly classified at the time of acquisition. The fair value in respect of land of adjoining villages namely Dhuman and Nalas Khurd, which was acquired for the same purpose, was assessed at par with the rates assessed in the present set of appeals. It was further stated that this court in RFA No. 610 of 1991 Gamdur Singh and others vs State of Punjab and another decided on 13.7.2000, enhanced the compensation to Rs. 1,20,000/- per acre, for the land situated in Village Dhuman. Once the potentiality of the land pertaining to Villages Dhuman and Rai Majra is same, the landowners in present set of appeals are also entitled to same amount of compensation. Learned counsel for the State does not dispute the factual position that revenue limits of Nalas Khurd and Dhuman adjoin Rai Majra. He conceded that claim made in the present set of appeals is also squarely covered with the judgment in Gamdur Singh's case (supra). For the reasons mentioned in Gamdur Singh's case (supra), the present appeals and cross-objections filed by the landowners are disposed of in terms thereof. The landowners shall also be entitled for the benefits available under the Act. The appeals filed by the State are dismissed. 1.4.2009 ( Rajesh Bindal) vs/reema Judge