RFA No.857 of 1994 - 1 - IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH **** RFA No.857 of 1994 Date of Decision: 06.11.2008 **** State of Punjab ….Appellant(s) Vs. Amar Singh …. Respondent(s) **** CORAM: HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE RAKESH KUMAR JAIN **** Present: Mr.N.S. Pawar, Addl. A.G., Punjab for the appellant(s). None for the respondent(s) **** RAKESH KUMAR JAIN, J. (ORAL) This order shall dispose of 19 appeals i.e. RFA Nos.857 to 865, 1280 to 1283 and 1990 of the year 1994 and RFA Nos. 3630 to 3632 and 3634 & 3635 of the year 1993 and 4 Cross Objections Nos. i.e. XOBJ-9-CI of 1998 in RFA No.857 of 1994, XOBJ-7-CI of 1998 in RFA No.858 of 1994, XOBJ-8-CI of 1998 in RFA No.862 of 1994 and XOBJ-74-CI of 1998 in RFA No.863 of 1994, filed by the State of Punjab was well as the landowners as common questions of law and facts are involved therein. RFA No.857 of 1994 - 2 - Being aggrieved against the award passed by Additional District Judge, Patiala on 26.2.1993, the aforesaid appeals and the cross-objections are being disposed of by a common judgment as common questions of law and facts are involved in these appeals. Vide notification issued under Section 4 of the Act, 1894 (in short ‘the Act’), land of village Bhankarpur, Tehsil Rajpura, District Patiala, followed by a notification of declaration issued under Section 6 of the Act dated 31.9.1988 was acquired for construction of Bassi Distributory. The Land Acquisition Collector vide his award No.428/P-SYL dated 12.9.1990 determined the compensation @ Rs.60,000/- per acre for chahi, Rs.50,000/- per acre for barani and Rs.35,040/- per acre for gair-mumkin. Unsatisfied with the award pronounced by the Collector, landowners filed objections under Section 18 of the Act in which it was prayed that compensation awarded by the Collector is highly inadequate and unreasonable and the same was therefore to be enhanced. In the written statement, however, it was alleged that the compensation awarded by the Collector is fair and adequate and has been awarded as per market value prevalent at the relevant time. The claimant examined Jarnail Singh, Patwari Halqa as AW- 1, Ajit Singh, Kanungo as AW-2 and Hardial Singh as AW-3 and tendered into evidence judgments Ex.A3 and Ex.A4. On the other hand the respondent placed on file copies of sale deeds Ex.R1 and R2 and closed his evidence. Learned ADJ, Patiala after appreciating the evidence on record re-determined the compensation of the acquired land @ Rs.1,00,000/- per acre for chahi and Rs.55,000/- per acre for gair- mumkin by observing as under: - RFA No.857 of 1994 - 3 - “From the statement Ex.AW-1 Jaswant Singh Patwari Halqa and AW-2 Ajit Singh Qanungo, it is established that village Ramgarh Khudda adjoins village Bhankarpur and village Bhankarpur is on the G.T. Road, whereas, village Ramgarh Khuda is at a distance of 1 K.M. from G.T. Road. It is also evident that village Bhankarpur is more Industrialized than village Ramgarh Khuda as per Ex.AW-2. It has been brought in cross- examination of AW-2 that there are 60/17 big factories in village Bhankarpur and it has also been brought in the cross-examination of AW-2 by the learned G.P. that the value of land of village Bhankarpur varies from Rs.1 lac to Rs.1,50,000/- award Ex.A-3 of Sh. G.S. Khurana clearly shows that land under that award was acquired from construction of Bassi Distributory, so land for Bassi Distributory was acquired from the adjoining villages for the same purpose and there is no reason why there should be any difference in the compensation otherwise evidence on record suggest that potentiality of land of villages Bhankarpur more than village Ramgarh Khuda. So I assess the market value of the land as under: Chahi Rs.1,00,000/- Gair Mumkin Rs.55,000/- The issue is decided accordingly.” Mr.N.S. Pawar, Addl, A.G, Punjab has vehemently argued that the learned reference Court has committed an error of law in not appreciating the sale deeds tendered by the State in the shape of Ex.R1 and R2. However, he also admits that the value arising in the sale deeds Ex.R1 and R2 is less than the compensation awarded by the Collector. RFA No.857 of 1994 - 4 - After hearing the learned counsel for the appellant and Mr.N.S. Pawar, Addl, A.G, Punjab for the respondent, I do not find any merit in the arguments because, the sale instance, giving price of the acquired land was less than the award given by the Collector cannot be taken into consideration and have been rightly ignored by the learned reference Court from the zone of consideration. No other point has been raised before this Court. In view of the above, I do not find any merit in appeals filed by both the State of Punjab as well as the appeals filed by the claimant(s)/landowner(s) and cross objections are hereby dismissed without any order as to costs. (RAKESH KUMAR JAIN) 06.11.2008 JUDGE vivek