R. F. A No. 1023 of 1987 1 In the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh Date of decision : 08.9.2008 1. R. F. A No. 1023 of 1987 (O&M) Naranjan Singh and another ..... Appellants vs Land Acquisition Collector, P. S. E. B. Patiala and others ..... Respondents 2. R. F. A No. 1024 of 1987 (O&M) Jarmeja Singh and others ..... Appellants vs Land Acquisition Collector, P. S. E. B. Patiala and others ..... Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Mr. Bhim Sen Sehgal, Advocate, for the appellants. None for the respondents. Rajesh Bindal J. This order will dispose of two Regular First Appeal Nos. 1023 and 1024 of 1987 as the same are arising out of one acquisition. However, the facts are noticed from R. F. A. No. 1023 of 1987. Briefly, the facts are that vide Notification dated 6/9.7.1984, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act 1894 (for short, 'the Act'), an area of 20 kanals 6 marlas situated in Village Daudhar, Tehsil Moga, was acquired for public purpose namely for construction of Micro Hydel Project. The Land Acquisition Collector awarded compensation @ Rs. 25,000/- per acre. The learned Additional District Judge vide judgment dated 14.11.1986 upheld the award of the Collector. Learned counsel for the appellants submitted that the assessment of value of the land by the learned court below is not fair keeping in view the location thereof viz-a-viz the evidence produced by the appellants on record. The admitted position on record is that the acquired land is situated on two sides of pacca road near the canal. The sale instances produced by the appellants in the form of Ex. A-5 and A-6 should have been R. F. A No. 1023 of 1987 2 relied upon for the purpose of fair determination of value of the land. No one has appeared for the respondents to assist the court. Heard learned counsel for the appellants and perused the record. A perusal of the award of the learned court below shows that the appellants produced as many as four sale-deeds Ex. A-4 to A-7 showing sale of 1 kanal, 1 kanal, 4 kanals 4 marlas, and 1 kanal 1 marla of land, respectively. The average price per acre thereof is Rs. 70,000/-, Rs. 70,000/-, Rs. 56,000/- and Rs. 97,000/-, respectively. As against this, the respondents produced on record three sale-deeds Ex. R-3 to R-5 and two mutations Ex. R-6 and R-7. The average price thereof per acre is between Rs. 20,000/- and Rs. 22,000/- respectively. The site plans on record Ex. A-2 and R-1 are relevant for the purpose of consideration of location of the acquired land as well as the sale- deeds produced by the parties. A perusal of the site plans show that the acquired land is situated on the bank of the canal and on the two sides of Lopan-Daudar Road. The sale-deeds Ex. R-3 and A-6 are forming part of rectangle no. 228. Sale deed Ex. R-6 is part of khasra no. 3 thereof whereas sale-deed Ex. A-6 is part of khasra nos. 4 and 5 thereof. A road passes through between the land forming part of above two sale deeds. As per the plan, even the village abadi is also shown in khasra nos. 18 to 22 of rectangle no. 228. Another sale-deed on record is Ex. A-5 showing sale of 1 kanal land with an average price Rs. 70,000/- per acre which is situated on Bathani Khurd road emanating from Lopan-Daudhar Road. The average price of sale-deed Ex. A-6 is Rs. 56,000/- per acre. The transaction was executed on 19.12.1982 for an area of 4 kanals 4 marlas of land. The area involved in Ex. R-3 is 4 kanals. The average price is Rs. 22,000/- per acre and the sale-deed was executed on 1.12.1983. This area is in khasra no. 4 of rectangle no. 228 and abuts the road, whereas the land forming part of Ex. R-3 is situated in khasra no. 3 of rectangle no. 228. If we move from that place towards the acquired land which is 20 kanals 6 marlas, the village abadi comes in between. Thereafter the road leads towards the canal. On the embankment of canal, the acquired land is situated. If compared with sale- deeds as referred to above, one can certainly comes to a conclusion that R. F. A No. 1023 of 1987 3 quality of the land forming part of Ex. A-5 and A-6 cannot be compared with the acquired land, as the acquired land is situated on the embankment of the canal, though the Lopan-Daudhar road passes through the acquired land. The distance of the acquired land from the village is not very far of because acquired land is part of rectangle no. 239 in khasra nos. 8, 9, 10 and 11 which is close to the abadi of the village. But still keeping in view the totality of the circumstances and the material on record, in my opinion, the amount of Rs. 25,000/- per acre granted as compensation for the acquired land was not fair assessment of the value thereof keeping in view the location vis-a-vis the land forming part of the sale-deeds on record. Even if reasonable deduction is made on account of the transactions being for small areas of land, and also some negative aspects attached to the acquired land for the same being on the embankment of the canal, still in my view, the compensation payable to the appellants should be assessed @ of Rs. 35,000/- per acre as compared to Rs. 25,000/- awarded by the Land Acquisition Collector which was upheld by the learned court below. Ordered accordingly. The appellants shall also be entitled to other statutory benefits as per the Act. The appeals are thus allowed with costs. 08.9.2008 ( Rajesh Bindal) vs. Judge