R.F.A. No. 571 of 1985 [ 1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH (1) R.F.A. No. 571 of 1985 Date of decision: 1.10.2008 Raghvansh (deceased) through his L.Rs. .. Appellants v. The Collector, Land Acquisition, Urban Estate, Faridabad and others .. Respondents (2) R.F.A. No. 1205 of 1985 The State of Haryana and others .. Appellants v. Smt. Ramo and another .. Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL Present: Mr. Jaivir Yadav, Advocate for the land owners in both the appeals. Mr. Rajiv Kawatra, Senior Deputy Advocate General, Haryana for the State of Haryana in both the appeals. Rajesh Bindal J. This order will dispose of two Regular First Appeal Nos. 571 and 1205 of 1985, as the same arise out of a common acquisition. R.F.A. No. 571 has been filed by the land owners seeking enhancement of the compensation for the acquired land. In R.F.A. No. 1205 of 1985, the State has prayed for reduction of the amount of compensation. The facts have been extracted from R.F.A. No. 571 of 1985. Briefly, the facts are that vide notification dated 7.10.1971, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act'), the State Government acquired 7.97 acres of land situated in the area of Village Sarai Khawaja for the planned development of Sector 27-D, Gurgaon. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, `the Collector'), vide award dated 14.6.1972, determined the market value of the acquired @ Rs. 159/- per marla. The learned District Judge, on reference under Section 18 of the Act, determined the compensation @ Rs. 415.75 per marla for the acquired land. R.F.A. No. 571 of 1985 [ 2] Learned counsel for the land owners placed reliance upon a judgment of this Court in L.P.A. No. 992 of 1980-- M/s Baisiwala Brothers v. The State of Haryana, decided on 23.2.1984 (Ex. P.5), where for acquisition of land vide notification dated 29.8.67, a Division Bench of this Court awarded a sum of Rs. 19/- per square yard as compensation. The submission is that acquisition in the present case is more than four years thereafter, i.e., 7.10.1971 and increase @ 12% per annum be granted thereon, considering the valid judicial precedent available on record where the acquisition was just close to the acquired land. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State relied upon a judgment of this Court in R.F.A. No. 1724 of 1979 –M/s Raj Dhani Land and Finance v. State of Haryana, decided on 24.12.1993, where for acquisition in the same village vide notification dated 9.7.1973, the value of the acquired land therein was assessed at Rs. 24/- per square yard. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. Learned counsel for the parties have not pointed out as to whether any other appeal arising out of the same acquisition is either pending or decided by this Court. A perusal of the site plan on record shows that the land of the land owners abuts the main Delhi-Mathura National Highway. As valid piece of evidence in the form of judicial precedents, two judgments are available, namely, M/s Baisiwala Brothers 's case (supra) pertaining to acquisition vide notification dated 29.8.1967 and M/s Raj Dhani Land and Finance's case (supra) regarding acquisition carried out vide notification dated 9.7.1973. In both these judgments, the issue under consideration was for determination of fair value of the land of Village Sarai Khawaja. For the acquisition carried out in 1967, the value of the land was assessed at Rs. 19/- per square yard, whereas for the acquisition carried out in 1973, the value of the land was assessed at Rs. 24/- per square yard. The acquisition in the present case was carried out in between these two notifications, i.e., 7.10.1971. If the value of the land is determined keeping in view the value of the land assessed by this Court in M/s Raj Dhani Land and Finance's case (supra) which was for a large chunk of land for the same purpose, by applying a cut @ 6% per annum, the fair value of the land on the date of acquisition comes out to Rs. 21.60 per square yard. Accordingly, the value of the acquired land in the present case is assessed @ Rs. 21.60 per square yard. The land owners shall also be entitled to all the statutory benefits available under the Act. R.F.A. No. 571 of 1985 [ 3] The appeal filed by the land owners is allowed with costs, whereas the appeal filed by the State is dismissed. (Rajesh Bindal) Judge 1.10.2008. mk