R. F. A No. 2405 of 1990 1 In the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh Date of decision : 4.11.2008 1. R. F. A No. 2405 of 1990 (O&M) State of Haryana ..... Appellant vs Raj Pal and others ..... Respondents 2. R. F. A No. 2406 of 1990 (O&M) State of Haryana ..... Appellant vs Smt. Jeet Kaur and others ..... Respondents 3. R. F. A No. 2407 of 1990 (O&M) State of Haryana ..... Appellant vs Smt. Anarkali and others ..... Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Additional Advocate General, Haryana. Mr. K. S. Malik, Advocate, for respondent no.1 in R. F. A. Nos. 2405 and 2407 of 1990. Mr. K. S. Dhaliwal, Advocate, for respondent no. 1 in R. F. A. No. 2406 of 1990. Rajesh Bindal J. This order shall dispose of Regular First Appeal Nos. 2405, 2406 and 2407 of 1990, filed by the State against the against the award of the learned court below passed under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, 'the Act') seeking reduction in compensation for the acquired land, as the same arise out of the same acquisition. However, the facts have been extracted from R. F. A. No. 2405 of 1990. Briefly, the facts of the case are that the State of Haryana vide notification dated 18.2.1986 issued under Section 4 of the Act, acquired the land situated in revenue estate of Safidon for public purpose namely for the construction of quarters for the families of employees of Police Station, Safidon. The Land Acquisition Collector vide his award dated 12.12.1988 R. F. A No. 2405 of 1990 2 assessed the market value of the land at Rs. 80,000/- per acre. On reference under Section 18 of the Act, the learned court below vide award dated 31.3.1990, determined the market value of the acquired land at Rs. 1,20,000/- per acre. Learned counsel for the appellant/State submitted that the value of the land as determined by the learned court below is on the higher side if the evidence led on record by the parties is considered in detail. Sufficient material was not on record, rather it was on estimation that the court below has assessed the value of the acquired land which deserves to be set aside and the award of the learned Land Acquisition Collector should be upheld. On the other hand, learned counsel for the respondents submitted that the acquired land is situated within the Municipal limits of Safidon City. The landowners, in fact, produced on record sale-deeds Ex. P-5, P-6, P-13, P-14 and P-15 to prove the fair value of the land on the date of its acquisition which was in the form of sale of plots in the vicinity as the land was situated within the Municipal limits. The same was being sold in smaller plots as big chunk of land was not available. In terms of the sale- deeds produced on record, the value of the acquired land which deserves to be assessed was much more as compared to other sale-deeds. The prayer was for dismissal of appeals. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and perusing the impugned award and the relevant record with their assistance, I am of the opinion that the present set of appeals are totally meritless. The fact is that the land is situated within the Municipal limits on Ghorapuli road which leads to Railway road, further leading to new Bus-stand. The new sabji mandi was also in the close vicinity. Residential colonies were being developed close to the acquired land, and, in fact, few houses had also been constructed. Learned court below while discarding the sale-deeds which were pertaining to the sale of property much prior to the date of acquisition and also the sale-deeds which were pertaining to the property situated in highly commercialized area, relied upon-deed Ex. P-13 whereby 200 square yard land on Ghorapuli road was sold for Rs. 8,000/- at an average price of Rs. 40/- per square yard. Vide another sale-deed Ex. P-14, the land measuring 233 square yards was sold for Rs. 9,000/- at an average price of Rs. 40/- per square yard. Both these plots were out of the acquired land, it R. F. A No. 2405 of 1990 3 was on the basis of these sale-deeds that the learned court below assessed the fair market value at Rs. 1,20,000/- per acre which, in my considered opinion, cannot be said to be on higher side. Accordingly, the present appeals are dismissed. 4.11.2008 ( Rajesh Bindal) vs. Judge