R.F.A. No. 209 of 1994 [ 1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of decision: 30.8.2010 (1) R.F.A. No. 209 of 1994 (O&M) Hardeep Singh .. Appellant vs. State of Haryana .. Respondent (2) R.F.A. No. 210 of 1994 (O&M) Balbir and others .. Appellants vs. State of Haryana .. Respondent (3) R.F.A. No. 211 of 1994 (O&M) Satbir and others .. Appellants vs. State of Haryana .. Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL Present: Mr. Bhoop Singh, Advocate for the appellants. Mr. Ashish Gupta, Assistant Advocate General, Haryana. .... Rajesh Bindal J. This order will dispose of the above mentioned appeals, as common questions of law and facts are involved. The land owners are in appeal seeking further enhancement of compensation for the acquired land. The facts have been extracted from R.F.A. No. 209 of 1994. Briefly, the facts of the case are that vide notification dated 16.9.1988, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act'), State of Haryana acquired 40 kanals and 18 marlas of land in village Balu, Tehsil Narwana, District Jind (now District Kaithal) to carve out plots for allotment to homeless, landless Harijans and other weaker sections of the society. R.F.A. No. 209 of 1994 [ 2] The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, `the Collector') vide award dated 24.3.1989 assessed compensation @ ` 40,000/- per acre. Dissatisfied with the award of the Collector, the land owners filed objections. On reference under Section 18 of the Act, the learned court below upheld the award of the Collector. Learned counsel for the land owners submitted that the learned court below has failed to consider the evidence led by them on record to assess the fair value of the acquired land, which was located in three different pockets measuring 10 kanals 5 marlas; 18 kanals 4 marlas and 12 kanals 4 marlas. As is mentioned, the object for which the land was acquired was to carve out plots for allotment to homeless, landless Harijans and other weaker sections of the society. It is located quite close to the abadi area. Site plans (Ex. P1, Ex. P9 and Ex. P12) produced on record by the land owners clearly established the location of the land vis-a-vis abadi of the village. Sale deeds (Ex. P2 to Ex. P8) clearly established that the value of the acquired land at the time of acquisition was not less than ` 2,00,000/- per acre. Those were ignored by the learned court below considering them to be for small plots, whereas the acquired land was also not a big chunk. The sale deeds produced by the State are required to be ignored for the reason that the consideration paid therein was less than the award of the Collector. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State submitted that it is practically a case of no evidence. Sale deeds produced on record were not worth reliance for seeking enhancement of compensation for the acquired land. These pertained to small plots, which are part of the abadi area, whereas the acquired land was located outside the abadi area, thus not comparable. If those sale deeds are ignored, there is nothing on record to justify any increase in the value of land. It was further submitted that even if sale deed, relied upon by the land owners, as Ex. P8 registered in the year 1991 is considered, the average sale consideration paid therein was ` 62,000/- per acre. If reasonable cut is applied on account of the fact that it was a fair transaction having been entered into after the acquisition of land, the award of the learned court below does not call for any interference. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the relevant referred record. A perusal of the paper book shows that in the present case, three pockets of land located at different places in the village was acquired. Site plan (Ex. P1) shows that the acquired land, which formed part of Rect. No. 105 and 106, is surrounded by abadi. Another chunk of land forming part of khasra No. 168 (shown in Ex. P12) is located close to the abadi and the land forming part of khasra No. 169 (shown in Ex. P9) is located on kacha rasta. It has further come in R.F.A. No. 209 of 1994 [ 3] the evidence of PW1-Balbir Singh that population of the village to which the land belonged, was 35,000 to 40,000. Mandi was also there in the village and the acquired land was located quite close thereto. There was nothing in his cross- examination, which could put a dent in his statement recorded in chief. The land owners produced following sale deeds to justify their claim for enhancement of compensation: “Sr. No. Sale deed Area sold Amount paid in ` ............................................................................................. 1. Ex. P2 dated 11.12.1990 4 marlas 6,000/- 2. Ex. P3 dated 13.1.1986 1 kanal 1 marla 25,000/- 3. Ex. P4 dated 17.4.1986 150 square yards 9,250/- 4. Ex. P5 dated 18.1.1988 1 kanal 3 marlas 13,690/- 5. Ex. P6 dated 11.6.1990 1 kanal 16,500/- 6. Ex. P7 dated 11.12.1990 4 marlas 6,000/- 7. Ex. P8 dated 16.5.1991 38 kanals 9 marlas 3,00,000/-” Sale deeds (Ex. P2, Ex. P6 to Ex. P8) could not possibly be considered for the reason that those were post acquisition. Vide sale deed (Ex. P3) dated 13.1.1986, one kanal and one marla land was sold for a total consideration of ` 25,000/-. Sale deed (Ex. P4) dated 17.4.1986 is for a small plot of 150 square yards. The consideration paid therein was ` 9,250/-. As against the aforesaid sale deeds, in my opinion, sale deed (Ex. P5) would be the most appropriate one for the purpose of assessment of fair value of the acquired land, which was registered quite close to the acquisition. Vide aforesaid sale deed, 1 kanal and 3 marlas of land was sold for a total sum of ` 13,690/-. It was registered on 18.1.1988. Notification under Section 4 of the Act was issued on 16.9.1988. The genuineness of the aforesaid sale deed is not in dispute. The average price per acre paid therein comes out to ` 95,235/-. The total acquired land is also 40 kanals and 18 marlas, which is located in three different pockets. Meaning thereby that each pocket is not quite big. No doubt, it is mentioned in the sale deed that it is part of the abadi. Even the acquired land is also surrounded by the abadi area, as is evident from the site plans, referred to above. Still, in my opinion, to arrive at a just and fair conclusion and for giving margin for the smallness of area and also for location, a cut of 40% can be applied thereon. After reducing the amount from ` 95,235/- per acre, the resultant would be ` 57,140/- per acre, which is rounded off to ` 57,000/- per acre, which shall be the amount of compensation payable to the land owners for the acquired land. The land owners shall also be entitled to all statutory benefits available to them under the Act. R.F.A. No. 209 of 1994 [ 4] Accordingly, the award of the learned court below is modified to the extent mentioned above and the appeals are disposed of. (Rajesh Bindal) Judge 30.8.2010 mk