R. F. A No. 2504 of 2008 (1) In the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh Date of decision : 2.12.2008 1. R. F. A No. 2504 of 2008 (O&M) State of Punjab ... Appellant vs Harbans Singh and others .... Respondents 2. R. F. A No. 2751 of 2008 (O&M) Punjab State and another ... Appellants vs Dev Raj and others .... Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Mr. Vivek Chauhan, Assistant Advocate General, Punjab. Rajesh Bindal J. This order shall dispose of Regular First Appeal nos. 2504 and 2751 of 2008 filed by the State of Punjab for reduction in the compensation awarded to the landowners. The facts have been extracted from R. F. A. No. 2504 of 2008. Briefly, the facts are that vide notification dated 12.10.1983, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, 'the Act'), the State of Punjab acquired land in Villages Waziran, Godhan, Naushehra Simbli, etc. Tehsil Dasuya, District Hoshiarpur, for construction of canal. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, “the Collector”) pronounced his award on 17.3.1986. Dissatisfied with the award of the Collector, the landowners/claimants filed objections. On reference under Section 18 of the Act, the learned court below vide award dated 10.12.2007, determined the market value of the acquired land at Rs. 25,000/- per acre. Learned counsel for the appellants submitted that the reliance on the award Ex. A-2 was pertained to Village Godhan whereas the land in question is situated in Villages Waziran and Naushehra Simbli. As the land is pertaining to different villages, the award of the other village even if the acquisition was for the same purpose could not have been relied upon. R. F. A No. 2504 of 2008 (2) However, I find that the contention raised by the learned counsel for the appellants is totally misconceived. A perusal of the impugned award shows that acquisition in the present case is for the same purpose i.e. for construction of a canal which was passing through different villages. It has come on record that the land pertaining to Village Godhan for which the award, Ex. A-2, was passed and relied upon for the purpose of determination of fair value of the acquired land in the present case was situated at a distance of 5 killas from the acquired land. In view of this position, the findings recorded by the court below assessing the value at Rs. 25,000/- per acre cannot possibly be interfered with. Accordingly, the appeals are dismissed. 2.12.2008 ( Rajesh Bindal) vs. Judge