RFA No. 4606 of 2010 (1) IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH RFA No. 4606 of 2010 (O&M) Date of decision : 30.3.2011 State of Haryana and another ...Appellants vs Suraj Bhan and another ...Respondents Coram : Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Mr. D. D. Gupta, Additional Advocate General, Haryana. Rajesh Bindal, J. The State of Haryana is seeking reduction of compensation awarded to the landowners for the acquired land. The bunch of appeals pertain to the valuation of land acquired for construction of extension of Mangala Direct Minor from R. D. 22940-24370 in the revenue estate of village Madhosinghana, Tehsil and District Sirsa, vide notification dated 29.11.2004 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short 'the Act') by the State of Haryana. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short 'the Collector') vide award dated 17.1.2006 assessed the market value of the acquired land @ ` 5,00,000/- per acre. The land owners being dissatisfied with the award of the Collector filed objections which were referred to the learned Court below. On reference under Section 18 of the Act, the learned Court below assessed the compensation of the acquired land @ ` 7,02,000/- per acre. Aggrieved against the award of the learned court below, the State is in appeal before this court. Learned counsel for the State submitted that the court below had not given any reasoning whatsoever while determining the amount of compensation payable for the acquired land. He further argued that the value of the land of each area is different keeping in view the location and other advantages. But in the present case, the learned court below without there RFA No. 4606 of 2010 (2) being any reason assessed the compensation for the acquired land @ ` 7,02,000/- per acre. It had merely applied a thumb rule. It is due to the policy of the State Government that the value of the land was determined @ ` 5,00,000/- per acre by the Collector, otherwise the value of the land in the area was not as much as has been awarded by the learned court below. The prayer was for setting aside of award of the learned court below and restoration that of the Collector. Heard learned counsel State and perused the relevant referred record. There is no dispute that Government had issued policies on 28.4.2005 and 6.4.2007 fixing minimum rates for awarding compensation for the acquired land. As per the policy of the State Government dated 6.4.2007, the minimum rates for acquisition of land were fixed @ ` 8,00,000/- per acre in the area in question. This rate was applicable for all those acquisitions where awards have been announced by the Collector on or after 22.3.2007 irrespective of the date of notification under Section 4 of the Act. The relevant extract of policy dated 6.4.2007, is as under:- "Sub: Fixation of floor rates for the acquisition of land for public purpose in the State of Haryana. Ref: This Department Memo No. 2025-R-5-2005/4299, dated 28.4.2005. Vide this Department Memo. under reference, minimum floor rates for acquiring land for public purposes for various Departments as well as other State Agencies were fixed by the Haryana Government as follows: i) Minimum floor rate for urbanisable area of Gurgaon. Rs. 15.00 lacs per acre ii) Minimum floor rate for rest of the Haryana Sub-Region of NCR inlcuding Panchkula and area of Chandigarh periphery in the Haryana State. Rs.12.50 lacs per acre. iii) Minimum floor rate for the rest of the Haryana State. Rs. 05.00 lacs per acre. (These floor rates did not include the solatium and interest payable under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894). RFA No. 4606 of 2010 (3) 2. Now it has been observed that with the passage of time market rates of the land have increased substantially. Therefore, Haryana Government has re-considered this matter and has decided to re-fix these floor rates as follows: i) Minimum floor rate for urbanisable area of Gurgaon. Rs. 20.00 lacs per acre ii) Minimum floor rate for rest of the Haryana Sub-Region of NCR inlcuding Panchkula and area of Chandigarh periphery in the Haryana State. Rs.16.00 lacs per acre. iii) Minimum floor rate for the rest of the Haryana State. Rs. 08.00 lacs per acre. 3. These floor rates do not include the solatium and interest payable under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. 4. These revised rates will be applicable on all those acquisitions where awards have been announced on or after 22.3.2007 irrespective of the date of notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894." In the present case, the award was announced by the Collector on 17.1.2006 whereas the policy dated 6.4.2007 comes into force with effect on 22.3.2007. Prior to that policy dated 28.4.2005 was in force valuing the land @ ` 5,00,000/- per acre. It is always that the process to frame or revise a policy starts in advance and finalisation thereof takes time. There is gap of about fourteen months between the date of enforcement of policy dated 6.4.2007 and award of the Collector. No doubt, due to construction of canal/distributory it has become easier for the landowners to irrigate their fields. But on the other hand, due to bifurcation of land it has become difficult for them to cultivate two portions of land. The landowners have not been awarded any amount on account of severance though their land has been divided into two parts. In my opinion, considering the difficulties which are being faced by the landowners for the acquisition of this type, the award of the learned court below would be just and reasonable. Even if there is some small difference, this court would not like to interfere in the matter. RFA No. 4606 of 2010 (4) Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed. Consequently, the application for condonation of delay is also dismissed. However, it is made clear that dismissal of appeal filed by the State will not affect the merits of the appeal of the landowners, in case filed by them. The same shall be considered independently. 30.3.2011 (Rajesh Bindal) vs. Judge