RFA No.1318 of 1992 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of decision 19.11.2009 1. RFA No.1318 of 1992 Sunehra Ram ..... Appellant V/s State of Haryana .....Respondent 2. RFA No.1319 of 1992 Budha ..... Appellant V/s State of Haryana .....Respondent 3. RFA No.1320 of 1992 Hari Ram and others ..... Appellant V/s State of Haryana .....Respondent 4. RFA No.1321 of 1992 Chatru and others ..... Appellants V/s State of Haryana .....Respondent 5. RFA No.1432 of 1992 Jagdish Kumar ..... Appellant V/s State of Haryana .....Respondent 6. RFA No.1710 of 1992 State of Haryana ..... Appellant V/s Hari Chand .....Respondent 7. RFA No.1711 of 1992 State of Haryana ..... Appellant V/s Sunehra Ram .....Respondent RFA No.1318 of 1992 2 8. RFA No.1712 of 1992 State of Haryana .....Appellant V/s Siri Chand .....Respondent 9. RFA No.1713 of 1992 State of Haryana .....Appellant V/s Budha .....Respondent 10. RFA No.1714 of 1992 State of Haryana .....Appellant V/s Chatru .....Respondent 11. RFA No.1719 of 1992 State of Haryana .....Appellant V/s Jagdish Kumar .....Respondent 12. RFA No.1888 of 1992 State of Haryana .....Appellant V/s Hari Ram .....Respondent CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HEMANT GUPTA 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not? 3. Whether the judgment should be report in the Digest? Present: Mr. Arun Jain, Sr. Advocate, with Mr. Amit Jain, Advocate, for the appellant(s) in RFA Nos.1318 to 1321. Mr. Pritam Saini, Advocate, for the appellant(s) in RFA No.1710. Mr. H.S.Hooda, Advocate General, Haryana with Mr.Lokesh Sinhal, Addl. Advocate General, Haryana. RFA No.1318 of 1992 3 HEMANT GUPTA, J. (ORAL) This order shall dispose of 12 appeals against the Award dated 12.2.1992 rendered by the learned Reference Court in 7 references. 5 land-owners are in appeal, whereas remaining appeals are by the State. Land measuring 20.519 acres was acquired by the State Government for a public purpose i.e. Construction of Haryana Irrigation Research Station on Kurukshetra-Pehowa Road, vide notification dated 29.6.1985 under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short 'the Act'). The Land Acquisition Collector announced his Award Nos.62 and 63 in respect of the aforesaid land and the market value assessed was Rs.34,500/- per acre. Dis-satisfied with the amount of market value determined by the Land Acquisition Collector, the aggrieved land-owners have sought references for determination of the proper market value. The learned Reference Court vide Award dated 12.2.1992 determined Rs.96,800/- per acre as the market value i.e. Rs.20/- per square yard. It is said determination, which is subject matter of appeals. During the pendency of the present appeal, an application for additional evidence has been filed under Ordr 41 Rule 27 of the Code of Civil Procedure, by the land-owners. The application is to produce on record certified copy of the judgment in RFA No.2900 of 1986 titled “Siri Chand and others Vs. State of Haryana and another” decided on 28.1.2004. The appellant has also sought to produce site plans Annexures A-2 and A-3 in respect of the land in dispute. Though, no reply in the said appeal has been filed, but a reply has been filed in RFA RFA No.1318 of 1992 4 No.1710 of 1992 to the application under Order 41 Rule 27 of the Code of Civil Procedure. An aks-shajra has been produced of Village Jyotisar and Mirzapur giving location of the land, subject matter of the sale deeds, with the said reply. Since the application for permission to lead additional evidence is in respect of an order passed by this Court, the same is allowed. The Award and the site plans Annexures A-2 and A-3 are permitted to be taken on record as marked as Exs.CX-1, CX-2 and CX-3 respectively. The learned Reference Court has found that the acquired land is at a distance of 3 ½ kilometers from the Kurukshetra township and only half a kilometer from the outer wall of the Kurukshetra University Campus. The land is on Kurukshetra-Jyotisar road and residential colonies i.e. Didar Nagar & Shanti Nagar have sprung up near the acquired land. On the Western side of the acquired land, there are godowns of Satluj Yamuna Link Canal Department; Irrigation Department; Rest House; Haryana State Electricity Board's Employees' Colonies; Jyotisar mandir and cold storage etc. On the basis of such evidence, the learned Reference Court returned a finding that two residential colonies in the vicinity of the acquired land, have duly developed. However, the sale instances relied upon by the parties were not taken into consideration, in view of the fact that they were not found relevant, keeping in view the distance from the acquired land and from the abadi of village Mirjapur. Since the land was found to be potential for development, treating the same sub-urban, the learned Reference Court determined the market value at Rs.96,800/- per acre. RFA No.1318 of 1992 5 This Court in Siri Chand's case (supra) while dealing with the acquisition of land measuring 56 Kanals 1 Marlas situated in village Mirjapur, the same as in the present case, for the construction of Bus Stand at Kurukshetra vide notification dated 15.5.1981. A perusal of Ex.CX-2 shows that khasra No.14/6 subject matter of the appeals, nearest to the Bus Stand, is at a distance of 1 kilometer, but away from the town of Kurukshetra. Therefore, the land situated at a distance of 1 kilometer cannot be said to have the same market value as the land, which was subject matter of the acquisition for Bus Stand in the year 1981. But the fact remains that the acquisition of land, which was subject matter of consideration in Siri Chand's case (supra) is part of the same revenue estate. Therefore, the compensation awarded in the aforesaid case forms a reasonable yardstick for determining the compensation of the present case as well. Though, learned counsel for the land-owners has vehemently argued that the land-owners should be given some enhancement over and above the market value determined in Siri Chand's case (supra) in view the time gap and location. But keeping in view the distance of land between the two parcels of land and in the absence of any evidence of increase in price, I am of the opinion that the compensation of Rs.1,20,000/- as determined in Siri Chand's case (supra) would be reasonable compensation for the acquired land as well. In view of the said fact, the appeals filed by the land-owners are allowed by determining the market value of the acquired land at Rs.1,20,000/- per acre. The appeals filed by the State are dismissed. The RFA No.1318 of 1992 6 land-owners shall be entitled to statutory benefits contemplated under Sections 23(1A), 23(2) and 28 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 as amended. The land-owners shall be entitled to the costs as well. 19.11.2009 (HEMANT GUPTA) Vimal JUDGE