IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PIUS C.KURIAKOSE & THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE HARUN-UL-RASHID FRIDAY, THE 2ND JANUARY 2009 / 12TH POUSHA 1930 LA.App..No. 364 of 2007() ------------------------- LAR.27/1997 of SUB COURT, SULTHAN BATHERY .................... APPELLANT(S): CLAIMANT ---------------------- LALITHAKUMARI, MAHAVEERVIHAR, KALPETTA NORTH. BY ADV. SRI.SEBASTIAN DAVIS RESPONDENT(S): --------------- STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY ASSISTANT COLLECTOR, MANANDAVADY. GOVERNMENT PLEADER SRI.BASANT BALAJI THIS LAND ACQUISITION APPEAL HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 02/01/2009 ALONG WITH LAA NO. 1469 OF 2007 LAA NO. 1430 OF 2007 LAA NO. 1138 OF 2007, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: PIUS.C.KURIAKOSE & HARUN-UL-RASHID, JJ. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - L.A.A.NOs.364, 1138, 1430 & 1469 of 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dated this the 2nd day of January, 2009 JUDGMENT Harun-Ul-Rashid, J. These appeals are directed against the common judgment in L.A.R.Nos. 27/97 and 43/97 on the file of the Sub court, Sulthan Bathery. The claimant is the appellant in L.A.A.No. 364/07 and the State of Kerala in L.A.A.No.1469/07 which are filed against the judgment and decree in L.A.R.No. 27/97. Similarly the claimant is the appellant in L.A.A.No. 1138/07 and the State in L.A.A.No. 1138/07 filed against the judgment and decree in L.A.R.No.43/97 on the file of the same court. Two items of properties were acquired for the purpose of Kalpetta bye-pass road. The notification under Section 4(1) was published on 23-03-1993. The land acquisition officer awarded land value @ Rs. 1,327/- per cent in L.A.R.No.27/97 and at the rate of Rs. 2,990/- per cent in L.A.R.No.43/97. An amount of Rs. 5000/- was also awarded towards severance compensation. 2. Complaining about the inadequacy of compensation granted, the claimants preferred the above appeals. Challenging the L.A.A.NOs.364, 1138, 1430 & 1469 of 2007 2 amount awarded towards compensation, the State has come up in the other appeals. 3. The matter was heard in detail. Before the reference court the claimants examined AW1 and AW2 and marked Exts.A1 to A11. RW1 was examined on the side of the respondent. Exts.R1 to R4 are marked. Ext.C1 to C5 and Ext.X1 to X2 (a) are also marked. The court below considered the documents and also the importance of the locality wherein the acquired property is situated. It has come out in evidence that the acquired properties are situated 240 meters away from Kozhikode-Mysore National Highway 212. The acquired properties are situated on the back side of Judicial court complex and Civil Station. The acquired properties are having access through roads. The reference court also considered the importance of the properties covered by Exts.A1 to A3 which situates on the side of the Kozhikode- Mysore National Highway. We are not inclined to rely on the properties covered by Exts.A1 to A3 documents for the reason that the said properties are facing the National Highway and cannot be compared with the acquired lands as rightly pointed out by the L.A.A.NOs.364, 1138, 1430 & 1469 of 2007 3 reference court. At the same time, the importance of the acquired properties and its nearness to the very many institutions including the Collectorate is to be taken into account. We have also noticed that there is a municipal road in between the court complex and civil station which leads to the house of the claimants and that the properties of the claimants are situated on the two sides of Thiruhridaya Nagar road. The property is situated within a distance of 130 metres from the Wayanad district collectorate and Civil Station Complex and District Court complex and 250 metres from the Kozhikode Mysore National Highway 212. 4. Considering the locational importance of the property, we are of the view that even the fixation of Rs. 10,000/- per cent is grossly inadequate. But considering the fact that the appellant claimant has limited his claim at the rate of Rs. 12,000/- per cent in these appeals, we are inclined to grant the relief sought for and refix the market value of the property limited to Rs. 12,000/- per cent. The claimants are entitled to an additional compensation of Rs. 2,000/- per cent. 5. We find that the appeals preferred by the State against the L.A.A.NOs.364, 1138, 1430 & 1469 of 2007 4 fixation of land value at the rate of Rs. 10,000/- per cent does not merit consideration for the reasons stated above. Hence LAA.No.1430/07 & 1469/07 are dismissed. In the result, appeal Nos. 364/07 & 1138/07 are allowed. The decree passed by the court below is modified by refixing the land value at the rate of Rs.12,000/- per cent. The appellant claimants are also entitled to all statutory benefits in accordance with law. There is no order as to costs. PIUS.C.KURIAKOSE JUDGE HARUN-UL-RASHID JUDGE sv. L.A.A.NOs.364, 1138, 1430 & 1469 of 2007 5