1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION FIRST APPEAL NO. 168 OF 1996 The State of Maharashtra ........Appellant versus Yashwant Hari Koli & ors........ Respondents. Ms. S.P. Manchekar AGP adv. for the Appellant Mr. K. N. Kore adv. for the respondents CORAM: A. P. DESHPANDE, J. DATED : 6th MARCH, 2009. P.C.: 1. By consent the appeal is taken up for final hearing. 2. This is an appeal filed by State of Maharashtra against an award passed by Jt. District Judge, Thane dated 22- 12-1993 in LRA No.5/91. The land held by the respondents to the extent of 10952 sq. mtrs. came to be acquired for the public purpose of MIDC. A notification under section 4 was issued way back on 11-12-1963. The Land Acquisition Officer granted compensation of Rs. 1.80/-. Dissatisfied with the same, after accepting the compensation amount under protest, the appellant filed an application under section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act and a reference came to be made by the Collector to the court concerned. The Reference Court has enhanced the amount of 2 compensation from Rs. 1.80/- to Rs. 8/-. The Court below has relied upon a copy of judgment in LAR No.202/87 which was filed at Exh.12 wherein the land from the adjacent village Kalwa was acquired. The land in present appeal is situated at village Dighe which is at a distance of half kilometer from village Kalwa. The Reference Court in LAR No. 202/87 granted compensation at the rate of Rs. 12/- per sq. mtr. to the land situated in village Kalwa. However, in the present case, compensation came to be awarded only to the extent of Rs. 8/- as the claimants themselves restricted the claim for enhancement of compensation to the extent of Rs. 8/- per sq. mtr. While considering the question of enhancement, the court below has made the following observations in para 10 of the judgment, which reads thus: “ It is to be noted that the lands concerned in the judgment produced at Exh.12 were also agricultural lands situated at the adjacent village and were similar in quality and yield and they were also acquired for the same purpose, and therefore, to my mind, the said cited judgment would be relevant to determine the market value of the land. On going through the said judgment, the lands in the cited reference are quite similar in quality to the land in the present reference and considering all the relevant aspects, my learned Predecessor had then determined the market value of the land under the cited reference at Exh.12 at the rate of Rs. 12/- per square metre.” 3 3. The learned counsel for the appellant is unable to demonstrate that the impugned award suffers from any infirmity requiring any interference at the hands of this court in appeal. It is not disputed that the village Kalwa is at a distance of half kilometer from village Dighe and the lands in both the villages are similar in quality and yield. The learned AGP appearing for the appellant is not aware as to whether the State Government had filed any appeal against the judgment in LAR No.202/87. If that be so, then no case whatsoever is made out for interference with the enhancement of compensation to the extent of Rs. 8/- per sq. mtr. when similarly situated land from an adjoining village Kalwa has been awarded compensation at the rate of Rs. 12/- and which Award does not appear to have been challenged by filing an appeal. In the result, there being no merit in the appeal, the same is dismissed. No orders as to costs. Certified copy expedited. (A. P. DESHPANDE, J.)