RFA No. 765 of 1990 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH RFA No. 765 of 1990 Date of Decision: 11.8.2009 Kartar Singh (Dead) through LRs ....Appellant. Versus State of Punjab and another ...Respondents. CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AJAY KUMAR MITTAL. PRESENT: Mr. O.P. Hoshiarpuri, Advocate for the appellant. Mr. O.P. Dabla, DAG, Punjab, for the respondents. AJAY KUMAR MITTAL, J. This order shall dispose of two appeals bearing RFA Nos. 765 and 766 of 1990 as they arise out of the same acquisition and from the same village. For brevity, the facts are being taken from RFA No. 765 of 1990. Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that the State of Punjab issued notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short “the Act”) dated 12-14.2.1985 and subsequent declaration on the same date acquiring the land measuring 8.84 acres in village Chabbewal, Hadbast No. 308, Tehsil and District Hoshiarpur for the construction of approach bridge near Chabbewal Cho. However, at the spot, the area was found to be 7.81 acres which included Chahi, Barani and Banjar Qadim land. The Land Acquisition Collector, Hoshiarpur, vide its award dated 6.12.1985 determined the amount of RFA No. 765 of 1990 -2- compensation as under:- Chahi : Rs.16,000/- per acre Barani : Rs.11,163/- per acre Banjar Qadim : Rs.5500/- per acre Besides the aforesaid compensation, the Land Acquisition Collector had awarded 5% amounting to Rs.3376.42P as compensation to the landowners on account of severance of land and 12% per annum was also allowed from the date of notification to the date of award in addition to solatium at the rate of 30%. The landowner-claimant feeling aggrieved against the quantum of compensation, approached the Additional District Judge, Hoshiarpur by way of reference, who vide award dated 7.12.1989 upheld the amount of compensation awarded by the Land Acquisition Collector and dismissed the reference. Being not satisfied, the claimant-landowner filed the instant regular first appeals in this Court for enhancement of the compensation. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the Land Acquisition Collector as well as the reference court had not granted adequate compensation while assessing the market value of the acquired land. Learned counsel further submitted that the claimant- appellant has produced the sale instances. By placing reliance on the sale deed, Ex.A5, pertaining to sale of 3½ marlas of land which was sold on 28.11.1977, the learned counsel submitted that the average price of the acquired land would come to Rs.4,57,000/- per kanal and the compensation should have been awarded on that basis. He placed reliance upon a judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Atma Singh (died) through LRs and others v. State of Haryana and another, AIR RFA No. 765 of 1990 -3- 2008 SC 709 to submit that for determination of comparable sales, sale instances of small plots could not be excluded and on that basis, the compensation which had been awarded to the claimant is inadequate and calls for interference by this Court. Controverting the submissions of the learned counsel for the appellant, the learned State counsel submitted that in fact the compensation awarded by the Land Acquisition Collector though was on the higher side as determined on the basis of sale instances produced by the State, i.e. Ex.R2 to Ex.R5, but the same was upheld by the reference court and does not call for any interference by this Court in the regular first appeal. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have perused the record very carefully. The reference court had not accepted the sale instance, Ex.A5 produced by the claimant-landowner on the ground that the aforesaid sale deed related to khasra No. 26/1/2/2 and the said khasra number did not find mention in the site plan, Ex.A2. Even in the Akas Shajra, Ex.A1, rectangle No.26 was shown to be at a considerable distance from the acquired land of the claimant. It was further observed by the reference court that the land which was covered by the aforesaid sale deed was situated near the Bus Stand, Chabbewal, where there were a number of shops. The land covered under the aforesaid sale deed had the potentiality of being used for commercial purposes. Accordingly, the said sale deed was not relied upon by the reference court. Now adverting to the sale instances produced by the State RFA No. 765 of 1990 -4- in the shape of Ex.R2 to Ex.R5, on the basis of which the price of the acquired land was determined by the reference court @ Rs.10126.58P per acre, since the Land Acquisition Collector had awarded more than the aforesaid rate, the reference court held that it could not grant compensation less than that of the Land Acquisition Collector. Learned counsel for the appellant could not show that the observation made by the reference court with regard to the sale instance, Ex.A5, was perverse or erroneous in any manner. However, the reliance of the learned counsel for the appellant on Atma Singh's case (supra) is not helpful to the appellant inasmuch as in the present case, the reference court had not rejected the sale instance Ex.A5, produced by the landowner-appellant on the ground that it related to small piece of land. As observed in the earlier part of the judgment, it was not relied upon for the reason that the area covered by the sale deed, Ex.A5, was not depicted in the site plan, Ex.A2, and even in Aks Shajra, Ex.A1, it was shown to be at a considerable distance from the acquired land and it related to land which had commercial potentiality. Accordingly, the sale deed, Ex.A5, cannot be taken to be a comparable sale instance on which reliance can be placed for assessing the quantum of compensation to be awarded to the landowner-claimants. Thus, compensation awarded by the reference court cannot be held to be inadequate. In view of the above, there is no merit in these appeals and the same are hereby dismissed. There shall, however, be no order as to costs. August 11, 2009 (AJAY KUMAR MITTAL) gbs JUDGE RFA No. 765 of 1990 -5- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH RFA No. 766 of 1990 Date of Decision: 11.8.2009 Nirmal Singh (Dead) through LRs ....Appellant. Versus State of Punjab and another ...Respondents. CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AJAY KUMAR MITTAL. PRESENT: Mr. O.P. Hoshiarpuri, Advocate for the appellant. Mr. O.P. Dabla, DAG, Punjab, for the respondents. AJAY KUMAR MITTAL, J. This appeal is dismissed. For reasons, see separate judgment of even date recorded in RFA No. 765 of 1990 (Kartar Singh (dead) through LRs v. State of Punjab and another). August 11, 2009 (AJAY KUMAR MITTAL) gbs JUDGE