HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE A. GOPAL REDDY AND HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE B. CHANDRA KUMAR A.S. No : 188 of 1999 O R D E R: (per Hon'ble Sri Justice A. Gopal Reddy) This Appeal, under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 by the claimant, seeking further enhancement of the compensation amount, is directed against the order, dated 20th August 1998 passed by the Senior Civil Judge, Adoni, Kurnool District, in O.P. No.58 of 1992. An extent of Ac.11.77 cents of land was acquired by the Government, for the purpose of providing house sites to the backward classes in Mandigiri Village of Adoni Erstwhile Taluk. A draft notification, under Section 4(1) of the Act, was issued and published in the District Gazette on 27.06.1977 and the possession of the land was taken on 14.02.1978. The Land Acquisition Officer, by his Award No.1 of 1978, dated 14.02.1978, fixed the market value of the acquired land at Rs.10,000/- per acre with 15% solatium and interest thereon, as prevalent and payable under the Act. The claimant, who owns an extent of Ac.5.04 cents of land in Survey No. 400 of Mandigiri Village, not satisfied with the compensation amount awarded by the Land Acquisition Officer, sought for a reference of the matter to the civil Court, under Section 18 of the Act, claiming an amount of Rs.1 lac per acre, but the Land Acquisition Officer referred the matter belatedly after 14 years. On receiving the notice, the claimant appeared before the civil Court and set forth his claim for Rs.1,00,000/- per acre. To substantiate the market value prevalent as on the date of issuance of the notification, the claimant examined himself as R.W.1 and three more witnesses as R.Ws.2 to 4 and marked Exs.B1 to B4 on his behalf. No oral evidence has been let in on behalf of the Referring Officer, but Ex.A1, Award No. 1 of 1978, dated 14.02.1978 and Ex.A2, Protest Letter of claimant, dated 11.07.1991, were marked. The civil Court, after considering the oral and documentary evidence, held that Ex.B3 - sale deed cannot be relied upon, on the ground that none connected with the said sale deed was examined to prove the contents thereof and the land covered under Ex.B4 - extract of the sale deed, dated 07.06.1976, is far away from the acquired land and therefore, the same cannot be taken into consideration for fixing the market value, and enhanced the market value by Rs.3,334/- per acre with 30% solatium on the enhanced amount with interest at 9% per annum from 14.02.1978 to 14.02.1979 i.e. for a period of one year and thereafter, at 15% per annum. Sri M. Radha Krishna, learned counsel for the appellant contended that in view of insertion of Section 51-A through Act No. 68 of 1984, the market value fixed in a sale deed can be relied upon in assessing the compensation for the similar lands acquired within the vicinity of the area covered by the sale deed. According to him, the civil Court was not justified in rejecting Ex.B3 - sale deed, where Ac.0.1 ½ cents was sold for Rs.1,000/- on 24.05.1975. He further contends that for the lands acquired for the purpose of locating a bus stand, the High Court fixed the market value at Rs.50,000/- per acre in A.S. No. 1209 of 1986, covered by Award No. 3 of 1979, dated 9.11.1979, therefore, the claimant is entitled to the market value at Rs.50,000/- per acre, but they have confined the appeal to Rs.1,60,000/-. On the other hand, learned Government Pleader for Land Acquisition rightly contended that Ex.B4 cannot form the basis for fixation of the market value. R.W.1, who is the claimant, mainly relied upon Ex.B4 sale deed, under which an extent measuring 15 yards x 20 yards in Survey No. 369 in Mandigiri Village was sold for Rs.9,000/-, which works out to Rs.24.50 ps. per square yard. R.W.2 is the son of the purchaser under the original of Ex.B4 sale deed. He stated that the site referred to in Ex.B4 is behind R.T.C. bus station, at a distance of one furlong separated by a street. He further stated that himself and his father sold away the said land in 1983 at the rate of Rs.45/- per square yard. However, the Court below rightly held that the land covered by Ex.B4 is abutting the main road of Adoni-Kurnool and passed in the municipal area and the same cannot form the basis for fixation of the market value. Under Ex.B1, an extent of Ac.0.1 ½ cents of land in Survey No. 369 was sold for Rs.1,000/- in 1975. There is no other evidence, except the compensation fixed by the High Court for the lands acquired in Survey No. 380, where the bus station was located which is abutting the main road of Adoni-Kurnool, but the Land Acquisition Officer, took into consideration the sale deed, which covered the lands in Survey No. 292, which is far away from Survey Nos. 369 and 380, which are nearer to the acquired land. R.Ws. 3 and 4, who were examined by the claimant, shows that the lands belong to them situate in Survey Nos. 380 and 383 were acquired by the Government for the purpose of location of Adoni bus stand, vide draft notification published on 02.09.1977 i.e. two months after the present notification, where the reference Court fixed the market value in O.P.No. 1 of 1981 at Rs.56,000/- per acre, enhancing the compensation fixed by the Land Acquisition Officer from Rs.25,000/- and 30,000/-. On further appeal, this Court fixed the same at Rs.50,000/- per acre. Adjacent to the lands covered by Survey Nos. 380 and 383, Adoni-Kurnool road is passing and on the other side, Survey Nos. 398 and 399 are located. Adjacent to it, Survey No. 400 was located, which was acquired and covered by the subject matter of the present O.P. In view of the same, 50% of the market value fixed for the lands acquired for locating the bus stand can be taken as a compensation for the lands covered by the present O.P. which are acquired during the proximity of the same notification. Hence, we accordingly fix the market value of the acquired land in the present case at Rs.25,000/- per acre. Since the award was passed prior to coming into force Act No. 68 of 1984 i.e. 30.04.1982, the claimants are not entitled to the additional market value. In view of the same, the submission made by the learned counsel for the claimant that the lower Court erred by not awarding the additional market value, cannot be acceded to and the same is accordingly rejected. Since the reference was made after the Act No. 68 of 1984 came into force, the claimant is entitled to solatium at 30% on the enhanced compensation, interest at 6% per annum from the date of taking possession till 29.04.1982 and from 30.04.1982 i.e. when Act No. 68 of 1984 came into force, at 9% per annum for a period of one year and thereafter, at 15% per annum. With this, the Appeal is partly allowed. No costs. ----------------------- (A. GOPAL REDDY,J) --------------------------- (B. CHANDRA KUMAR, J) 10th August 2009 ksld ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1) 2 CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{BMR}