R.F.A. No. 2700 of 2001 [1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of decision: October 22, 2008 1 R.F.A. No. 2699 of 2001 Jagir Singh ....Appellant Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 2 R.F.A. No. 2700 of 2001 Ajmer Singh (deceased) through L.Rs. .. Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 3 R.F.A. No. 2701 of 2001 Santokh Singh and another ....Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 4 R.F.A. No. 2702 of 2001 Dharam Singh and others ....Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 5 R.F.A. No. 2703 of 2001 Ajmer Kaur (deceased) through L.Rs. .. Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 6 R.F.A. No. 2704 of 2001 Mewa Singh and others ....Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 7 R.F.A. No. 2705 of 2001 Smt. Jaspal Kaur and others ....Appellants Vs. R.F.A. No. 2700 of 2001 [2] Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 8 R.F.A. No. 2720 of 2001 Gurpreet Singh and another ....Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 9 R.F.A. No. 2824 of 2001 Varinder Singh (deceased) through L.Rs. and others .. Appellants. Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 10 R.F.A. No.4462 of 2001 Raghbir Singh ....Appellant Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 11 R.F.A. No.4463 of 2001 Smt. Jaspal Kaur and another ....Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 12 R.F.A. No. 4513 of 2001 Ishwar Dayal and another ....Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 13 R.F.A. No. 4514 of 2001 Gurcharan Kaur and others ....Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 14 R.F.A. No. 4515 of 2001 Nagina Singh (deceased) through L.Rs. and others ....Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent R.F.A. No. 2700 of 2001 [3] 15 R.F.A. No. 4516 of 2001 Gurcharan Singh and others ....Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 16 R.F.A. No. 4517 of 2001 Prem Singh (deceased) through L.Rs. and others ....Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 17 R.F.A. No. 4518 of 2001 Gurnam Singh and others ....Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 18 R.F.A. No. 4519 of 2001 Harbans Singh and others ....Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 19 R.F.A. No. 4520 of 2001 Gursewak Singh and others ....Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 20 R.F.A. No. 4521 of 2001 Darbara Singh and others ....Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 21 R.F.A. No. 4522 of 2001 Nachhattar Singh (deceased) through L.Rs. ....Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent R.F.A. No. 2700 of 2001 [4] 22 R.F.A. No. 4523 of 2001 Sadhu Singh and others ....Appellants Vs. Union Territory of Chandigarh ....Respondent 23 R.F.A. No. 4524 of 2001 Amarjit Singh (deceased) through L.Rs. ....Appellants Vs. Land Acquisition Collector ....Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL Present: Ms. Ekta Thakur, Advocate for the appellants in R.F.A. Nos. 2699, 2700 to 2705, 2720, 2824, 4662 and 4663 of 2001. Mr. Hardip Singh, Advocate for the appellants in R.F.A. Nos. 4513 to 4524 of 2001. Mr. Sanjiv Ghai, Advocate for Union Territory in R.F.A. Nos. 2699 to 2705, 2824, 4462 and 4463 of 2001. Ms. Lisa Gill, Advocate for Union Territory in R.F.A. Nos. 2700, 2720, 4513 to 4517 of 2001. Mr. Deepak Sharma, Advocate for Union Territory in R.F.A. Nos. 4518 to 4524 of 2001. Rajesh Bindal J. This order will dispose of a bunch of 23 cases, as the same arise out of a common acquisition. However, the facts have been extracted from R.F.A. No. 2700 of 2001. The land owners are in appeal before this Court against the award of the learned Court below for further enhancement of the compensation for the acquired land. Briefly, the facts are that vide notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act'), Chandigarh Administration acquired land situated within the revenue estate of in Village Manimajra (Pocket No. 5) for development of residential-cum-commercial complex. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, `the Collector') determined the market value of land at Rs. 1,65,400/- per acre. Aggrieved against the same, the land owners filed objections which were referred to the learned Additional District Judge, R.F.A. No. 2700 of 2001 [5] Chandigarh, who keeping in view the material placed on record by the parties, awarded Rs. 4,35,600/- as compensation per acre for the acquired land. Learned counsel for the appellants submitted that the land in question is situated on the main road leading from Chandigarh to Manimajra just across the Railway Line, as is evident from site plan ( Ex. P4) proved on record. The value of the land, as assessed by the learned Court below, deserves increase keeping in view the judgment of this Court in R.F.A. No. 2117 of 1997 –Jagir Singh v. Union Territory, decided on 15.10.2008, where for the land situated just across the road which was acquired vide notification dated 15.6.1989 for setting up of Artisan Village, this Court assessed the value at Rs. 151/- per square yard. On the other hand, learned counsel for Union Territory, Chandigarh submitted that the land owners in the present case should not be permitted to shift stand. Before the Court below, reliance was placed upon an earlier judgment of this Court in R.F.A. No.1241 of 1998 –Maluk Singh v. Union Territory, Chandigarh, decided on 19.8.1999 (Ex. PX) pertaining to acquisition of land for Pocket 1 vide notification dated 25.5.1989 and now the reliance is sought to be placed upon another judgment of this Court in Jagir Singh's case (supra). He further submitted that without there being any material on record to show the value of the land in the vicinity, the land owners are not entitled to any increase as it was only the allotment letter which were placed on record by them pertaining to allotment of plots at far off places which is not a good piece of evidence. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. From a perusal of site plan (Ex. P4), it is evident that the land in question is situated on the main road leading from Chandigarh to Manimajra just across the Railway Line. The land forming part in the judgment of this Court in Jagir Singh's case (supra) is situated just opposite the land in question on the main road. The judgment (Ex. PX), relied upon by the learned Court below, is pertaining to Pocket No.1, which though is situated on the main road leading from Chandigarh to Mani Majra, but is situated towards Mani Majra. Merely because at the relevant time, the land owners had relied upon judgment (Ex. PX) considering the fact that the same was also pertaining to the land acquired almost at the same time will not estop the land owners to rely upon another judgment of this Court pertaining to the land which is quite close and similar in location is available. The location of the land under acquisition and the land forming part of Jagir Singh's case (supra), which was acquired for setting up of Artisan Village is not disputed. Both these lands are situated on two sides of the road leading from Chandigarh to Manimajra. Considering this fact, in my considered opinion, judgment in Jagir R.F.A. No. 2700 of 2001 [6] Singh's case (supra) is the best piece of judicial precedent available which can be considered for the purpose of determination of the fair value of the land in the present case, as the notification issued in the present case was nearly four months after the acquisition of the land in Jagir Singh's case (supra). However, considering the fact that for the land under consideration in the present case, comparatively less width is available on the main road as compared to the land in Jagir Singh's case (supra), I do not consider giving any further increase for the time gap in the two notifications and determine the value of the land in the present case also at Rs. 151/- per square yard. The land owners shall also be entitled to statutory benefits available under the Act. The appeals are allowed in the manner indicated above. (Rajesh Bindal) Judge October 22 ,2008 mk