RFA No. 3543 of 2006 -1- In the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh RFA No. 3543 of 2006 (O&M) Date of decision : 15.12.2010 Ram Sarup and others ..... Appellants vs The State of Haryana and another .... Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Mr. R. K. Lamba and Mr. S. S. Godara, Advocates, for the appellants. Mr. D. D. Gupta, Additional Advocate General, Haryana. Rajesh Bindal J. This order shall dispose of appeals bearing RFA Nos. 3543 to 3555, 4012 of 2006, 3104 to 3117 of 2007, as the same arise out of common acquisition. The landowners are in appeal against the award of the learned court below seeking further enhancement of compensation for the acquired land. Briefly, the facts are that the land situated within the revenue estate of village Jasania, Tehsil and District Sirsa, was acquired by the State of Haryana vide notification dated 9.2.2001 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act') for construction of Gigo Rani Distributory. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, `the Collector') vide his award dated 18.6.2002 assessed the market value of the acquired land @ ` 1,00,000/- per acre for nehri, ` 80,000/- per acre for chahi, ` 50,000/- per acre for barani and ` 3,00,000/- per acre for gair mumkin kind of land. Aggrieved against the award of the Collector, the land owners filed objections. On reference under Section 18 of the Act, the learned court below upheld the award of the Collector. It is this award of the learned Reference Court which is impugned in the present set of appeals. The only argument raised by the learned counsels for the appellants is that no compensation on account of severance was awarded by the court below. It was submitted that due to construction of distributory, the land of the landowners was divided into two parts and it has become difficult for them to cultivate the same. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State submitted that no case for any compensation on account of severance is made out due to construction RFA No. 3543 of 2006 -2- of distributory. No difficulty is being faced by the landowners for cultivation rather it has become easier for them to irrigate their fields due to construction of said distributory. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. No doubt, due to construction of road/ canal/ distributory it becomes difficult for the landowners to go to their field or to irrigate the field. In my opinion, considering the difficulties which are being faced by the landowners for the acquisition of this type, damages to the tune of 20% on the value of the acquired land would be just and reasonable. Accordingly, the landowners are held entitled to damages on account of severance @ 20% on the value of the acquired land. They shall also be entitled to all statutory benefits available under the Act. The impugned award of the learned court below is modified to the extent mentioned above. The appeals stand disposed of accordingly. 15.12.2010 (Rajesh Bindal) vs. Judge