RFA No. 5107 of 2009 (1) IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH RFA No. 5107 of 2009 (O&M) Date of decision : 30.3.2011 The State of Haryana ...Appellant vs Ajeet Singh and others ...Respondents Coram : Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Mr. D. D. Gupta, Additional Advocate General, Haryana. Rajesh Bindal, J. This order shall dispose of appeals bearing RFA Nos. 5107 to 5113 of 2009, filed by the State of Haryana, seeking reduction of compensation awarded to the landowners for the acquired land, as common questions of law and facts are involved in these appeals. The bunch of appeals pertain to the valuation of land acquired for construction of New Kumthal Minor from R. D. 0-9500 Tail off taking R. D. 36687-LSGC vide notification dated 29.11.2004 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short 'the Act') by the State of Haryana, pertaining to Village Kumthal, Tehsil Ellenabad, District Sirsa. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short 'the Collector') vide his award dated 30.1.2006 assessed the market value of the acquired land @ ` 5,00,000/-. The land owners being dissatisfied with the award of the Collector filed objections which were referred to the learned Court below. On reference under Section 18 of the Act, the learned Court below assessed the compensation of the acquired land @ ` 6,25,000/- per acre vide award dated 13.8.2009. Aggrieved against the award of the learned court below, the State is in appeal before this court. RFA No. 5107 of 2009 (2) Learned Counsel for the State submitted that the learned Court below has not given any reasoning while increasing the amount of compensation payable for the acquired land. The submission was that as the landowners have not produced any oral or documentary evidence in support of their case, the increase made by the learned court below deserves to be set aside. It is only due to the policy of the State Government that the value of the land was determined @ ` 5,00,000/- per acre by the Collector, otherwise the value of the land in the area was not as has been awarded by the learned court below. The prayer was for restoration of award of the Collector. Heard learned counsel for the appellant and perused the paper-book. The notification under Section 4 of the Act in the present case was issued on 29.11.2004 and the award was announced by the Collector on 31.1.2006. There is no dispute that the Government of Haryana had issued policy dated 6.4.2007, whereby the minimum rates as were fixed for acquisition of land vide memo dated 28.4.2005, were further revised. The relevant extract of policy dated 6.4.2007, is as under:- "Sub: Fixation of floor rates for the acquisition of land for public purpose in the State of Haryana. Ref: This Department Memo No. 2025-R-5-2005/4299, dated 28.4.2005. Vide this Department Memo. under reference, minimum floor rates for acquiring land for public purposes for various Departments as well as other State Agencies were fixed by the Haryana Government as follows: i) Minimum floor rate for urbanisable area of Gurgaon. Rs. 15.00 lacs per acre ii) Minimum floor rate for rest of the Haryana Sub- Region of NCR inlcuding Panchkula and area of Chandigarh periphery in the Haryana State. Rs.12.50 lacs per acre. iii) Minimum floor rate for the rest of the Haryana State. Rs. 05.00 lacs per acre. (These floor rates did not include the solatium and interest payable under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894). RFA No. 5107 of 2009 (3) 2. Now it has been observed that with the passage of time market rates of the land have increased substantially. Therefore, Haryana Government has re-considered this matter and has decided to re-fix these floor rates as follows: i) Minimum floor rate for urbanisable area of Gurgaon. Rs. 20.00 lacs per acre ii) Minimum floor rate for rest of the Haryana Sub-Region of NCR inlcuding Panchkula and area of Chandigarh periphery in the Haryana State. Rs.16.00 lacs per acre. iii) Minimum floor rate for the rest of the Haryana State. Rs. 08.00 lacs per acre. 3. These floor rates do not include the solatium and interest payable under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. 4. These revised rates will be applicable on all those acquisitions where awards have been announced on or after 22.3.2007 irrespective of the date of notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894." In the present case, the award was announced by the Collector on 30.1.2006 whereas the policy dated 6.4.2007 comes into force with effect on 22.3.2007 just about 14 months later. A perusal of aforesaid policy shows that from the year 2005 to 2007 the State of Haryana itself had increased the value of the land by 60% in the area in question i.e. from ` 5,00,000/- to ` 8,00,000/- per acre i.e. 30% per annum. The award in the present case having been announced on 30.1.2006, there is no error in assessing the value of the acquired land @ ` 6,25,000/- per acre i.e. increase of 25% for about one year. Considering the aforesaid factors, in my opinion, no case for interference is made out. Accordingly, the appeals are dismissed. However, it is made clear that dismissal of appeals filed by the State will not affect the merits of the appeal of the landowners in case filed by them. The same shall be considered independently. 30.3.2011 (Rajesh Bindal) vs. Judge