RFA No. 2669 of 1990 [1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of decision: April 27 ,2009 (1) R.F.A. No. 2669 of 1990 (O&M) Shrimati Amarinder Kaur and others .. Appellants Vs. State of Punjab and another .. Respondents (2) R.F.A. No. 2232 of 1990 (O&M) The Punjab Government and another .. Appellants Vs. Shrimati Amrinder Kaur and others .. Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL Present: Mr. Arun Palli, Senior Advocate with Mr. Sunil Garg, Advocate for the land owners. Mr. Vivek Chauhan, Assistant Advocate General, Punjab for the State. Rajesh Bindal J. This order will dispose of set of above mentioned two appeals, as the same arise out of a common acquisition. R.F.A. No. 2669 of 1990 has been filed by the land owners seeking further enhancement of compensation for the acquired land. R.F.A. No. 2232 of 1990 has been filed by State seeking reduction of the amount of compensation awarded by the learned court below. The facts have been extracted from R.F.A. No. 2669 of 1990. Briefly, the facts are that land measuring 4 bighas and 10 biswas, situated in village Rampur was acquired vide notification dated 6.7.1985 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act') for the purpose of office and residential accommodation for Forest Rampur. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, `the Collector') gave award of Rs. 50,000/- per acre. Aggrieved against the same, the land owners filed objections which were referred to the learned District Judge, Ludhiana who keeping in view the material placed on record by the parties, assessed the market value of the acquired land @ Rs. 60,000/- per acre, i.e., Rs. 666.66 per Biswa. RFA No. 2669 of 1990 [2] Learned counsel for the land owners submitted that the acquired land is quite close to the abadi of Doraha town, where the land was being sold in the form of small plots at the rate ranging from Rs. 2,000/- to Rs. 3,000/- per Biswa. FCI Godowns and Railway Line are close to the acquired land, which was connected by road. At a distance of about 8 killas away from the acquired land, residential colony, named Mangat Colony, was existing. There were houses constructed even in the land close to the acquired land. Site plans (Ex. P1 and Ex. P2) were referred to show the location of the acquired land and also the location of sale deeds (Ex. P3 to Ex. P7) produced on record. It was also submitted that it is a fact that the land in question was on lease with Forest Department since 1926 for a period of 50 years, which expired in the year 1976. It was also agreed upon that at the time of handing over the possession of the land back to the land owners/lessors, the Forest Department will hand over the construction raised thereon free of cost. However, that was not done and the land was acquired. Site plan (Ex. P2) was referred to show that towards city from the acquired land at a distance of about ½ kilometers, the plots were located, the sale deeds of which were produced in evidence. Beyond that was Railway Line and across the Railway Line was Doraha town. Doraha town was a fully developed town with Municipal Committee, Schools, Colleges, industrial units and other civic amenities. As far as sale deeds produced by the State are concerned, learned counsel for the land owners submitted that those were located far off from the acquired land beyond Doraha town. In fact, the land pertaining to those sale deeds is at more distance from the city as compared to the acquired land. The same are not located at any comparative place. Accordingly, those sale deeds were not at all relevant for the purpose of determination of fair value of the acquired land. Even if it is considered that the sale deeds produced by the land owners were for small plots located in a developed colony, a reasonable cut could be applied. The expansion of city was towards this side and in terms thereof, the land had great potential for being developed as urban and commercial area. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State submitted that acquisition in the present case was carried out vide notification dated 6.7.1985. Sale deeds (Ex. P6 and Ex. P7) were registered after the issuance of notification under Section 4 of the Act. As regards sale deeds (Ex. P4 and Ex. P6) are concerned, it was submitted that the same were executed by Smt. Amarinder Kaur (appellant No.1) and her mother-in-law, meaning thereby that quite close to the acquisition, these were got registered as a sham transaction just with a view to show that prices of the plots in the area were much more. Sale deeds (Ex. P5 and RFA No. 2669 of 1990 [3] Ex. P7) are of the same person. Sale deed (Ex. P3) was registered on 28.3.1985, whereby 5 Biswas of land was sold at an average price of Rs. 2,000/- per Biswa. The land at the time of acquisition was Gair Mumkin and surrounded by agricultural land. There was no construction activity or pressure for development in the area. In fact, the award of the Collector was quite fair. The learned court below enhanced the compensation merely applying a thumb rule without any basis therefor. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the relevant referred record. As far as location of the land is concerned, both the parties are not in dispute as the same is borne out from the record and the site plan. As far as the evidence led by the parties is concerned, the land owners and the State produced the following sale deeds: Sale deeds produced by the land owners Ex. Date Area Khasra No. Price Average per Biswa ........................................................................................................................................ P3 28.3.85 0B-5B 4118/2/4-18 Rs.10,000/- Rs. 2,000/- P4 20.5.85 0B-10B 4112/4-3 Rs. 20,000/- Rs. 2,000/- P5 27.6.85 0B-3 4072/1-4 Rs. 9,000/- Rs. 3,000/- P6 17.9.85 0B-3B 4114/5-4 Rs. 6,000/- Rs. 2,000/- P7 14.11.85 0B-2B 4072/1-10 Rs. 6,000/- Rs. 3,000/- ........................................................................................................................................... Sale deeds produced by the State Exts. Date of sale Area Sale price Average .................................................................................................................... R.7 20.5.85 4B-18B Rs. 48,000/- ] R8 25.7.85 5B-17B Rs. 41,000/- ] R9 18.2.85 2B-19B Rs. 12,000/- ] R10 18.2.85 2B-18B Rs. 18,000/- ] Rs. 28,160/- per acre. R11 13.6.85 7B-0B Rs. 42,000/- ] R12 18.2.85 1B-0B Rs. 6,000/- ] R13 11.4.85 7B-0B Rs. 42,000/- ] R14 9.5.85 7B-0B Rs. 42,000/- ] All the plots dealt with in the sale deeds produced by the land owners are located in Mangat Colony quite close to the Railway Line across which is Doraha town. The acquisition in the present case was made vide notification dated 6.7.1985. Sale deeds (Ex. P6 and Ex. P7) cannot be considered having been registered after the issuance of notification under Section 4 of the Act. The vendor RFA No. 2669 of 1990 [4] in sale deeds (Ex. P4 and Ex. P6) are the appellant and her mother-in-law. However, there is another sale deed on record, i.e., Ex. P3, which was registered on 28.3.1985 showing sale consideration of Rs. 2,000/- per Biswa for a small plot of 5 Biswas. The same admittedly is part of Mangat Colony, which is located towards Doraha town. The land in question is almost ½ kilometer therefrom. Though the abadi was extending towards this side, as starting from close to Railway line from where Mangat Colony started, the development was towards the side of the acquired land. In my opinion, it is only sale deed (Ex. P3) which can be relied upon for the purpose of determination of fair value of the acquired land. However, considering the fact that it is a small piece of plot located in a colony with civic amenities and the acquired land is situated about ½ kilometer away therefrom, though connected with road and having potential for urbanisation, but still a reasonable cut is required to be applied, considering the aforesaid fact which, in my opinion, should be @ 50%. Accordingly, reducing a sum of Rs. 1,200/- therefrom, the value of the acquired land is assessed at Rs. 1,000/- per Biswa, as against Rs. 666.66 per Biswa (Rs. 60,000/- per acre) assessed by the learned court below. The land owners shall also be entitled to all statutory benefits available under the Act. The appeals are disposed of in the manner indicated above. (Rajesh Bindal) Judge April 27,2009 mk