FA/2177/2006 1/13 JUDGMENT IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD FIRST APPEAL Nos. 2177 to 2191 of 2006 For Approval and Signature: HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE J.M.PANCHAL THE HON'BLE SMT. JUSTICE ABHILASHA KUMARI ===================================================== 1 Whether Reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2 To be referred to the Reporter or not ? 3 Whether their Lordships wish to see the fair copy of the judgment ? 4 Whether this case involves a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the constitution of India, 1950 or any order made thereunder ? 5 Whether it is to be circulated to the civil judge ? ===================================================== SARDAR SAROVAR NARMADA NIGAM LTD. & 1 - Appellant(s) Versus ZALA VELUJI ANARSANG - Defendant(s) ===================================================== Appearance : Mr.S.S.Patel,learned AGP for Appellant(s) : 1 - 2. MR AJ PATEL for Defendant(s) : 1, ===================================================== CORAM : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE J.M.PANCHAL and FA/2177/2006 2/13 JUDGMENT THE HON'BLE SMT. JUSTICE ABHILASHA KUMARI Date : 18/07/2006 COMMON ORAL JUDGMENT (Per : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE J.M.PANCHAL) 1. Admitted. Mr.A.J.Patel,learned counsel, waives service of notice on behalf of the claimant/claimants in each appeal. Having regard to the facts of the case, the appeals are taken up for final disposal today. 2. By filing these appeals under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (“the Act” for short) read with Section 96 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the appellants have challenged the legality of common judgment and award dated February 25, 2005 rendered by the learned Civil Judge (SD), Mehsana in Land Reference Case Nos.1164/03, 1168/03 to 1175/03, 1177/03, 1178/03, 1180/03 and 1181/03 by which the claimants are awarded additional compensation at the rate of Rs.48.20 Ps. per sq.mt. over and above compensation of Rs.1.80 Ps.per sq.mt awarded by the FA/2177/2006 3/13 JUDGMENT Special Land Acquisition Officer by his award dated July 6, 1999, for their acquired lands. 3. A proposal was made to the State Government to acquire agricultural lands of village Nagarasan, Taluka Kadi, District Mehsana for the public purpose of Narmada Yojana. On consideration of the said proposal, the State Government was satisfied that certain agricultural lands of village Nagarasan were likely to be needed for the said public purpose. Therefore, a Notification under Section 4(1) of the Act was issued, which was published in the Official Gazette on September 1,1996. The land owners,whose lands were proposed to be acquired, were served with notices. They lodged objections against the proposed acquisition. After considering their objections, the Special Land Acquisition Officer submitted his report as contemplated by Section 5A(2) of the Act to the State Government. On scrutiny of the said report, the State Government was satisfied that the lands of village Nagarasan specified in Notification published under Section 4(1) of the Act were needed for public purpose of Narmada Yojana. Therefore, declaration FA/2177/2006 4/13 JUDGMENT under Section 6 of the Act was made,which was published in the Official Gazette on December 24, 1996. The interested persons were thereafter served with notices for determination of compensation. They appeared before the Special Land Acquisition Officer and claimed compensation at the rate of Rs.100/- per sq.mt. However, having regard to the material placed before him, the Special Land Acquisition Officer by his award dated July 6,1999 offered compensation to the claimants at the rate of Rs.1.80 Ps. per sq.mt. The claimants were of the opinion that the offer of compensation made by the Special Land Acquisition Officer was totally inadequate. Therefore, they submitted applications in writing requiring the Special Land Acquisition Officer to refer the matter to the Court for determination of just amount of compensation payable to them. Accordingly references were made to the District Court, Mehsana, which were registered as Land Reference Case Nos.1164/03, 1168/03 to 1175/03, 1177/03, 1178/03, 1180/03 and 1181/03. 4. On behalf of the claimants an affidavit was FA/2177/2006 5/13 JUDGMENT filed by Patel Keshavlal Babaldas under the provisions of Order 18 Rule 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. In the said affidavit, it was stated by Patel Keshavlal Babaldas that precious lands of village Kadi, village Jothana etc. were situated near the acquired lands. It was mentioned by him that the lands acquired were highly fertile and that the claimants were taking three crops in a year. According to him all facilities such as Co-operative Society, Milk Society, School, telephone, dispensaries, ST bus services etc. were available in the village and that his village was fully developed. It was further mentioned by Mr.Patel in his affidavit that lands of village Adundara and the acquired lands were situated adjoining to each other and were similar in all respects. 5. This witness was cross examined on behalf of the acquiring body. During his cross-examination by the acquiring body, the witness produced Certificate issued by Talati at Exh.50 indicating that the boundaries of village Adundara and village Nagarasan were common. The suggestion made on behalf of the FA/2177/2006 6/13 JUDGMENT acquiring body that the acquired lands were situated at a distance from village Kadi was emphatically denied by him. According to him the claimants were selling agricultural produces in market yard but he had not produced bills issued by authorities of the market yard. This witness was also cross-examined on behalf of the State Government. The suggestion made on behalf of the State Government that the claimants were taking only one crop in a year was emphatically denied by him. It was also denied by the witness that cultivation was dependent upon rainy water. 6. On behalf of the acquiring authorities Pandya Dilipbhai Damodardas was examined at Exh.52. His evidence would indicate that he had no personal knowledge regarding the acquisition proceedings which were initiated by his predecessor in office nor he had seen the acquired lands. It may be stated that the claimants had produced previous award of Reference Court dated December 29,2001 rendered in Land Acquisition Reference Case Nos.1198 to 1204 of 1998 relating to the lands of village Adundara in support of their claim for enhanced compensation. FA/2177/2006 7/13 JUDGMENT 7. On appreciation of evidence adduced by the parties, the Reference Court was of the opinion that previous award relating to the lands of village Adundara was relevant and furnished good guidance for assessing market value of the lands acquired from village Nagarasan. Placing reliance on the said previous award, the Reference Court has held that the claimants are entitled to additional compensation of Rs.48.20 Ps. per sq.mt. over and above the compensation of Rs.1.80 Ps. per sq.mt awarded by the Special Land Acquisition Officer for their acquired lands by common judgment and award dated February 25,2005, giving rise to above numbered appeals. 8. This court has heard Mr.S.S.Patel, learned AGP for the appellants and Mr.A.J.Patel,learned counsel for the claimant/claimants in each appeal at length and in great detail. This Court has also considered the documentary evidence produced by the learned advocates for the parties for perusal of the Court. 9. As is evident from the record, on behalf of the FA/2177/2006 8/13 JUDGMENT claimants witness Patel Keshavlal Babaldas was examined at Exh.49. Though the witness had produced 7-12 extracts to establish his claim that the lands acquired were highly fertile and that the claimants were earning substantial income from the sale of agricultural produces, the enhanced compensation was never claimed on yield basis. As noticed earlier, the claimants have relied upon previous award of Reference Court rendered by learned Extra Assistant Judge, Mehsana on December 29, 2001 in Land Acquisition Reference Case Nos.1198 to 1204 of 1998 relating to the lands of village Adundara. It is relevant to notice that the assertion made by witness Keshavlal Babaldas Patel that the lands of village Adundara and village Nagarasan are similar in all respects, including fertility, was not challenged in his cross-examination either by the acquiring body or by the State Government. Therefore, the Court will have to proceed on the footing that the lands of village Nagarasan and village Adundara were similar in all respects. Further it is not disputed by the appellants that the lands, which were subject matter of previous award, were situated adjoining to the FA/2177/2006 9/13 JUDGMENT lands acquired in the instant case. This fact has been admitted by witness Dilipbhai Damodardas Pandya, who is examined by the acquiring body at Exh.52 and the relevant admission forms part of his cross-examination. It is well settled that previous award of the Reference Court relating to the lands acquired from the adjoining village and which has attained finality is relevant piece of evidence and can be taken into consideration by the court while determining market value of the lands acquired subsequently from another adjoining village. Therefore, this Court is of the opinion that the Reference Court did not commit any error in placing reliance on the previous award of the Reference Court relating to lands of village Adundara. The previous award of the Reference Court relating to village Adundara is produced by the claimants at Exh.45, which indicates that pursuant to publication of notification issued under Section 4(1) of the Act on February 8, 1996 in the Official Gazette, agricultural lands of village Adundara, Taluka Kadi, District Mehsana were acquired for the public purpose of Narmada Canal. Therein the Land Acquisition FA/2177/2006 10/13 JUDGMENT Officer had awarded compensation to the claimants at the rate of Rs.3/- per sq.mt. for non irrigated lands and Rs.4.50 Ps. per sq.mt. for irrigated lands by award dated April 27,1998. Feeling aggrieved by the said award, the claimants had sought references. The Reference Court on appreciation of evidence adduced by the parties awarded additional compensation to the claimants at the rate of Rs.50/- per sq.mt. by judgment and award dated December 29,2001. During the course of hearing of these appeals, the learned advocates for the parties have produced simple copy of judgment rendered in First Appeal No.855/05 decided by Division Bench comprising B.J.Shethna and M.C.Patel,JJ on April 4,2005, which indicates that the judgment and award rendered in Land Reference Case Nos.1202/98 was challenged by the Special Land Acquisition Officer before the High Court and the High Court by judgment dated April 4,2005 allowed it partly in view of decision rendered in First Appeal No.537 to 550 of 2005 on March 23,2005. The simple copy of judgment rendered in First Appeal Nos.537 to 550 of 2005 decided by Division Bench comprising B.J.Shethna and M.C.Patel,JJ on March 23,2005 would FA/2177/2006 11/13 JUDGMENT indicate that the Division Bench relying upon decision dated March 23,2005 rendered in First Appeal Nos.622 to 634 of 2004 had partly allowed the appeals by holding that the claimants would be entitled to compensation at the rate of Rs.42.70 ps. per sq.mt. for their acquired lands, instead of Rs.54.50 Ps. Per sq.mt. awarded by the Reference Court. The simple copy of judgment dated March 23,2005 rendered by the Division Bench comprising B.J.Shethna and M.C.Patel,JJ in First Appeal Nos.622 to 634 of 2004 would indicate that therein the award rendered by the Reference Court in Land Acquisition Reference Case Nos.1173 to 1185 of 1998 was challenged. It may be mentioned that Land Reference Case Nos.1173 to 1185 of 1998 related to lands of village Adundara and Reference Court had awarded in all compensation of Rs.54.50 Ps. per sq.mt. to the claimants in those cases, but the High Court had reduced the same to Rs.42.70 Ps. per sq.mt. by judgment dated March 23,2005. Under the circumstances, this Court is of the opinion that in view of decision dated April 4,2005 rendered by the Division Bench of this Court in First Appeal No.855/05, the claimants would be FA/2177/2006 12/13 JUDGMENT entitled to compensation at the rate of Rs.42.70 Ps. per sq.mt. and not at the rate of Rs.50/- per sq.mt as held by the Reference Court, more particularly when this court finds that in the instant case Notification under Section 4(1) of the Act was published on September 1,1996 whereas in the previous award relied upon by the Reference Court relating to lands of village Adundara Notification under Section 4(1) of the Act was published on February 8,1996. 10. For the foregoing reasons,appeals are partly allowed. The judgment and award dated February 25,2005 rendered by the learned Civil Judge (SD), Mehsana in Land Reference Case Nos.1164/03, 1168/03 to 1175/03, 1177/03, 1178/03, 1180/03 and 1181/03 is hereby partly modified and it is held that the claimants would be entitled to compensation at the rate of Rs.42.70 Ps.per sq.mt. for their acquired lands. The rest of the directions given by the Reference Court in the impugned award are hereby upheld and not interfered with at all. There shall be no order as to costs. FA/2177/2006 13/13 JUDGMENT The Registry is directed to draw the decree in terms of this judgment. (J.M.Panchal,J) (Smt.Abhilasha Kumari,J) arg