IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH RFA No. 1957 of 2007. Date of Decision : 18.3.2010. The Market Committee, Indri & another ...... Appellants Versus Sudhir Kumar & others ......Respondents CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE NAWAB SINGH Present: Mr. S.S. Duhan, Advocate, Mr. Vikram Singh, Advocate, Mr. Yogesh Goel, Advocate, Mr. Sandeep Kotla, Advocate, Mr. Ashwani Gaur, Advocate, Mr. Pankaj Nanhera, Advocate, Mr. V.K. Jindal, Advocate, Mr. Lekhraj Nandal, AAG Haryana, for the respondent-State. NAWAB SINGH J.(ORAL) This judgment would dispose of above mentioned 36 appeals and 5 revisions as the same arise out of a common acquisition. 2. RFA Nos. 2785-93, 2878, 3023-25, 3559, 4515-18 of 2007 and civil revision Nos. 667-71 of 2008 have been filed by the land owners seeking enhancement of the compensation for the acquired land and RFA Nos. 1957-74 of 2007 have been filed by the Market Committee, Indri seeking reduction of the compensation awarded to the land owners. 3. Pursuant to notification dated May 23 rd, 2002 published under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short 'the Act'), the land in question situated in the revenue estate of village Gudha was acquired for the purpose of extension of New Grain Market at Indri. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short 'the Collector') determined the compensation by categorizing the acquired land into two blocks as follows:- RFA No. 1957 of 2007. (2) (i) land abutting Indri-Karnal road upto depth of one acre at the rate of 4 lacs per ace. (ii) The rest of the land at the rate of Rs.3 lacs per acre. 4. The land owners feeling dis-satisfied with the Award of the Collector, sought references under Section 18 of the Act. The Additional District Judge, Karnal (hereinafter referred to as 'the Court of Reference') assessed the market value of the acquired land at the rate of Rs.12 lacs per acre, that is, Rs.247.93 ps per square yard. 5. Learned counsel for the land owners/appellants contended that the Court of Reference has assessed the market value of the land after taking into consideration five sale instances, that is, Exhibit P-58, P-10, P-23, P-90 and P-12 dated October 15 th, 1990, June 9 th, 1992, November 5 th, 1992, February 15 th, 2001 and June 13 th, 2001, respectively. As per those sale instances, average market value of the acquired land came to Rs.12,07,000/- per acre. The Court of Reference firstly applying escalation of 10% and then 7.5% on the amount of Rs.12,07,000/- calculated the market value of the land at the rate of Rs.24,14,000/- and Rs.21,12,250/- respectively. Thereafter, by applying the guess work assessed the market value of the land at the rate of Rs.15 lacs per acre. A cut of 20% was applied on the amount of Rs.15 lacs and finally, assessed the market value at the rate of Rs.12 lacs per acre. 6. The Award of the Court below was also assailed on the ground that it took into consideration the sale instances of village Matak Majri, that is, Exhibit P-90 and P-12 which could not have been taken into consideration particularly when sale instances of village Gudha itself were available and also that on what basis, escalation of 10% and 7.5% was applied and thereafter, it was reduced to a figure of Rs.12 lacs without adopting any method or procedure. The amount of compensation was assessed only on the guess work of the Court of Reference which is contrary to the provisions of the Act. RFA No. 1957 of 2007. (3) 7. It was also contended that location of the acquired land is prime. It is situated in the municipal limit of Indri town. Earlier thereto, in village Gudha, there is office of Public Health, Municipal Committee, Block Development and Panchayat Office, office of Tehsildar, Petrol Station, Rice Sheller, Godowns of the Food Corporation of India, old Grain Market and the entire chunk of the land abuts the main road leading from Indri to Karnal as depicted in the site plan (Exhibit P-7) and observed by the Court of Reference in paragraph No.68 of the Award, a fact which has not been refuted by learned counsel representing the Market Committee. It is also not in dispute that the acquired land is surrounded by non-agricultural benefits. It is situated in the Municipal limit of Indri town. A judicial notice can also be taken that it is one of the best tract of agricultural land in the State of Haryana. 8. Now the question arises as to what should have been the market value of the acquired land ? The best evidence to prove the same are the sale instances of village Gudha and the topography of the acquired land. There are three sale instances which are relevant for the purpose. These are Exhibits P-58, P-10 and P-23. These pertain to village Gudha and are of October 15 th, 1990, June 9 th, 1992 and November 5 th, 1992 respectively. These are of small pieces of land. By calculation, the average market value of the acquired land on the basis of these sale instances comes to Rs.8,65,000/- per acre. There has been passage of 10 years between the sale instances and the notification. Obviously, the market value had increased during this long period of 10 years and as such, it would be appropriate to give an increase of 12% in price every year. By giving increase of 12% in price every year, the market value of the acquired land comes to Rs.26,86,552/- per acre. This figure has been calculated by this Court with the assistance of counsel for the appellants as well as the counsel for the Market Committee. This formula of calculating the increase in the price of the land is as per the dictum of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India rendered in The General Manager, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited vs. RFA No. 1957 of 2007. (4) Rameshbhai Jivanbhai Patel & another 2008(4)RCR(Civil) 487. With regard to the topography, observation has been made in paragraph No. 7 of this judgment and as such, there is no need to repeat the same. In this view of the matter, the gross market value of the land acquired at the time of notification is assessed at the rate of Rs.26,86,552/- per acre. 9. Since the aforesaid value has been determined on the basis of the sale instances which relate to small piece of land, therefore, some discount by way of deduction has to be made as the acquired land was a large chunk. In considered opinion of this Court, 20% cut to the aforesaid valuation would be just and appropriate in the given circumstances of the instant case. 10. On the basis of above, the market value of the acquired land is assessed at the rate of Rs.21,49,242/- per acre. For convenience, the figure is rounded off to Rs.21,50,000/- per acre, that is.Rs.444/- per square yard. 11. In upshot for the reasons recorded supra, the land owners will be entitled to compensation at the rate of Rs.21,50,000/- per acre, that is, Rs.444/- per square yard. Besides above, the land owners will also be entitled to the statutory sum in accordance with Section 23(1-A) and solatium at the rate of 30% on the market value under Section 23(2) of the Act. They will also be entitled to interest as provided under Section 28 of the Act. Thus, the appeals filed by the land owners are accepted in the manner indicated above and that of the Market Committee are dismissed. (NAWAB SINGH) JUDGE 17.3.2010. SN