R.F.A. No. 2759 of 1990 [ 1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of decision: November 05 ,2008 (1) R.F.A. No. 2759 of 1990 Ravinder Singh (deceased) through LRs .. Appellant v. Punjab State .. Respondent (2) R.F.A. No. 2760 of 1990 Mehar Chand (deceased) through his LRs .. Appellant v. Punjab State .. Respondent (3) R.F.A. No. 2761 of 1990 Gian Chand .. Appellant v. Punjab State .. Respondent (4) R.F.A. No. 151 of 1991 Onkar Singh and others .. Appellants v. Punjab State .. Respondent (5) R.F.A. No. 2575 of 1991 Punjab State .. Appellant v. Karam Chand and others .. Respondents (6) R.F.A. No. 2576 of 1991 Punjab State .. Appellant v. Harbans Lal and others .. Respondents R.F.A. No. 2759 of 1990 [ 2] (7) R.F.A. No. 2577 of 1991 Punjab State .. Appellant v. Rup Chand and others .. Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL Present: Mr. Saurabh Garg, Advocate for the land owners in R.F.A. Nos. 2759, 2760 and 2761 of 1990 and 151 of 1991. Rajesh Bindal J. This order will dispose of a bunch of above mentioned 7 appeals, as the same arise out of a common acquisition. R.F.A. Nos. 2759 to 2761 of 1990 and 151 of 1991 have been filed by the land owners against the award of the learned court below seeking further enhancement of compensation for the acquired land. R.F.A. Nos. 2575 to 2577 of 1991 have been filed by the State seeking reduction of compensation awarded to the land owners. The facts have been extracted from R.F.A. No. 2759 of 1990. Briefly, the facts are that land in question situated in the revenue estate of Village Januari was acquired vide notification dated 5.9.1983, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act') for construction of Tehliwala minor. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, `the Collector') determined the market value @ Rs. 32/- per mala for Barani land; Rs. 6/- per marla for Bagh Barani Banjar Qadim land and Rs. 5/- per marla for Gair Mumkin choa. The learned Additional District Judge, on reference under Section 18 of the Act, awarded compensation in the following manner: “(i) The acquired land which falls within 40 karams distance from the road will be valued at the rate of Rs. 40,000/- per acre irrespective of the quality of the land. (ii) The other land shall be treated to have been properly valued by the Land Acquisition Collector already.” Learned counsel for the appellants raised two-fold arguments, namely, that the value of the acquired land, as assessed by the learned court below, pertaining to the land which is beyond 40 karams from the main road also deserved increase as the land even in the rear, though may not be situated on the main road, but was situated close to the abadi. He further submitted that due to construction of R.F.A. No. 2759 of 1990 [ 3] Tehliwala minor, the land of the appellants have been divided into two parts, but the learned court below had granted only 10% on account of severance which deserved further increase, at least to the extent of 50% keeping in view the fact that culverts were not provided. Heard learned counsel for the appellants and perused the record. A perusal of the site plan on record shows that the learned court below, while upholding the award of the Collector, for the land beyond 40 karams from the road, increased the value of the land upto 40 karams from the road to Rs. 40,000/- per acre. The Collector had determined the value of the acquired land at Rs. 32/- per mala for Barani land; Rs. 6/- per marla for Bagh Barani Banjar Qadim land and Rs. 5/- per marla for Gair Mumkin choa. No doubt, some part of the land is situated beyond 40 karams from the main road, as a part of the minor was passing quite close to the road which thereafter took a turn inside towards the village. However, still some part of the land belonging to the appellants, though is situated at a distance from the main road, but is close to the village abadi. The difference in valuation for the land on the main road and the land behind that cannot be so much that the value thereof would be only around Rs. 800/- to Rs. 5,100/- per acre. Accordingly, in my considered opinion, even the land owners whose land is situated beyond 40 karams from the main road also deserve increase in value thereof which, in my opinion, should be assessed at least @ Rs. 12,000/- per acre, irrespective of quality of land. The land owners shall also be entitled to all the statutory benefits available under the Act. As far as claim on account of severance is concerned, in my opinion, considering the site plan on record, where though the acquired land has been divided into two parts, but still minor crosses two approach roads on which culverts have been provided which provide means of access to the land owners to approach other part of the land. The distance between the culverts and the land of the appellants is not too much. Accordingly, on that account, no further increase is called for and award to that extent is upheld. The land owners shall be entitled to 10% on the amount of compensation for the acquired land as severance charges. The appeals are disposed of in the above terms. (Rajesh Bindal) Judge November 05 , 2008 mk