fa1138.11 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY, BENCH AT AURANGABAD FIRST APPEAL NO. 1138 OF 2011 The State of Maharashtra .. APPELLANT VERSUS Parutappa s/o Vishwanathappa Khasage .. RESPONDENT Mr. N.R. Shaikh, AGP for the State. Mr. Madhav Ghode, advocate holding for Mr. S.P. Urgunde, advocate for the respondent. ===== CORAM : R.M. BORDE, J. DATE : 21 st JUNE, 2011 PER COURT : 1 This is an appeal by the State raising exception to the judgment and award passed by the Civil Judge, Sr.Dn., Omerga on 30-10-2007 in LAR No. 329/2004. 2 Lands belonging to the claimant out of survey no. 41/B admeasuring 1 H and 17 R and out of survey no. 40/B to the extent of 1 H and 30 R came to be acquired by the State Government for construction of minor irrigation tank at village Koregaon, Tq. Omerga. Notification under section 4 of the fa1138.11 2 Land Acquisition Act was issued on 29-6-1988 and after following the procedure prescribed under the Act, the Land Acquisition Officer offered a sum of Rs. 62,785/- towards value of the land. Rate of the agricultural land awarded by the Land Acquisition Officer comes to Rs.8,000/- per acre approximately. Claimant being dis-satisfied with the award passed by the Land Acquisition Officer, tendered application seeking reference of the matter to the civil court. Claimant claims enhanced compensation to the tune of Rs. 3,00,000/- with solatium and statutory benefits. In order to substantiate his claim, claimant placed reliance on the evidence in the form of sale deed. Sale-deed executed by one Bhaskar Kulkarni in favour of Mahesh Inamdar on 22-12-1988 in respect of alienation of agricultural land to the extent of 3 acres 28 gunthas for consideration of Rs. 1,10,000/- is placed on record. Said sale instance is three months after section 4 notification. Rate of the agricultural land covered by sale instance is on higher side. There is no evidence placed on record by the State to arrive at conclusion that after acquisition of the land, there is spurt in prices of the agricultural land situate in the vicinity. Apart from this aspect, reference court placed reliance on sale deeds at sr. nos. 23 to 26 and more particularly, sale instance at sr. no. 24 whereby the land having all similarities to the acquired property has been sold at Rs. 32,031/- per acre. Trial court has also fa1138.11 3 considered evidence in respect of fertility of the soil and income derived from agricultural land used to fetch. Considering all the relevant circumstances, reference court fixed market price of the acquired land at Rs. 16,000/- per acre thus granting enhancement to the tune of Rs. 8,000/- per acre over and above the value offered by the Land Acquisition Officer. 3 I have perused the judgment and award passed by the reference court and heard arguments advanced by respective counsel appearing for the parties. Copies of the relevant record were made available for perusal of learned counsel appearing for the parties. Considering all the relevant facts and on going through the award passed by the reference court, I am convinced that the reasons recorded by the reference court for directing payment of enhanced compensation are proper and the conclusions drawn are based on appreciation of evidence placed on record by the parties. Enhancement granted by reference court is also quite moderate. Claimant is held entitled to receive additional compensation to the tune of Rs. 57,215/- in respect of acquisition of land to the extent of about 3 hectors. Considering the meager amount awarded by the reference court towards compensation, I am of the view that no interference is call for in the instant appeal. Appeal is devoid of substance hence stands dismissed. fa1138.11 4 4 Pending civil application, if any, does not survive and stands disposed of. ( R. M. BORDE ) JUDGE dyb