CWP No. 14121 of 1990 and other connected cases 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of decision: 23.08.2011 CWP No. 14121 of 1990 Pawan Kumar Katia son of Sh. Laxmi Narain Katia ….. PETITIONER VERSUS The Land Acquisition Tribunal Improvement Trust Bhatinda and others ….. RESPONDENTS CWP No. 14421 of 1990 Luxmi Devi and others ….. PETITIONERS VERSUS The Land Acquisition Tribunal Improvement Trust Bhatinda and others ….. RESPONDENTS CWP No. 14156 of 1990 Harnam Singh and others ….. PETITIONERS VERSUS Bhatinda Improvement Trust, Bhatinda and others ….. RESPONDENTS CWP No. 15566 of 1990 The Bhupindra Flour Mills (P) Ltd. ….. PETITIONER VERSUS Bhatinda Improvement Trust, Bhatinda and others ….. RESPONDENTS CWP No. 14477 of 1990 Madan Lal Katia and others ….. PETITIONERS VERSUS The Land Acquisition Tribunal Improvement Trust, Bhatinda and others ….. RESPONDENTS CWP No. 14121 of 1990 and other connected cases 2 CWP No. 8691 of 1990 Bhatinda Improvement Trust ….. PETITIONER VERSUS The Bhupindra Flour Mills (P) Ltd., Bhatinda and others ….. RESPONDENTS CWP No. 8693 of 1990 Bhatinda Improvement Trust, Bhatinda ….. PETITIONER VERSUS The Land Acquisition Tribunal Improvement Trust, Bhatinda and others ….. RESPONDENTS CWP No. 8698 of 1990 Bhatinda Improvement Trust, Bhatinda ….. PETITIONER VERSUS The Land Acquisition Tribunal Improvement Trust, Bhatinda and others ….. RESPONDENTS CORAM:HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE JASBIR SINGH HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH Present: Mr. J.R.Mittal, Sr. Advocate, with Mr. Kashmir Singh, Advocate, and Mr. Rajiv Mittal, Advocate, Mr. Pankaj Katia, Advocate, Mr. Deepak Gupta, Advocate, Mr. K.S.Dhaliwal, Advocate. for the petitioner (s). Mr. Manohar Lall, Addl. A.G. Punjab. Mr. Sanjay Tangri, Advocate, for respondents No. 4, 5 and 7 (CWP No. 8698 of 1990) Mr. Ashok Jindal, Advocate, for the respondents (CWP No. 8693 of 1990) *** AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH, J. The Improvement Trust, Bhatinda (hereinafter referred to as 'The Trust') framed a development scheme known as 'Bhupindra Flour CWP No. 14121 of 1990 and other connected cases 3 Mills Amrik Singh Road' under Section 24 read with Section 28 (2) of the Punjab Town Improvement Act, 1922 (hereinafter referred to as '1922 Act') covering an area of 26.55 Acres within the boundaries of the Municipal Committee, Bhatinda. After complying with the procedural mandate of the Statute, the Land Acquisition Collector pronounced his Award dated 03.03.1977 determining the market value of the land at ` 10/- per Sq. Yard. Claimants filed application under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as '1894 Act') for enhancement of the compensation granted, claiming therein an amount of ` 150/- per Sq. Yard being rate of the land acquired, which was referred to the Tribunal, Land Acquisition Improvement Trust, Bhatinda by the Collector, which, on consideration of the evidence led by the parties and the records, enhanced the compensation vide Award in the year 1990 to ` 50/- per Sq. Yard of the acquired land. It is this Award, which is challenged both by the Trust and the land owners, whose land has been acquired. The Trust has filed CWP No. 8691 of 1990 titled as Bhatinda Improvement Trust vs. The Bhupindra Flour Mills (P) Ltd., Bhatinda and others, CWP No. 8693 of 1990 titled as Bhatinda Improvement Trust vs. The Land Acquisition Tribunal Improvement Trust, Bhatinda and others and CWP No. 8698 of 1990 titled as Bhatinda Improvement Trust vs. The Land Acquisition Tribunal Improvement Trust, Bhatinda and others and the land owners have filed CWP No. 14121 of 1990 titled as Pawan Kumar Katia son of Sh. Laxmi Narain Katia vs. The Land Acquisition Tribunal Improvement Trust, Bhatinda and others, CWP No. 14421 of 1990 titled as Luxmi Devi and others vs. The Land CWP No. 14121 of 1990 and other connected cases 4 Acquisition Tribunal Improvement Trust, Bhatinda and others, CWP No. 14156 of 1990 titled as Harnam Singh and others vs. Bhatinda Improvement Trust, Bhatinda and others, CWP No. 15566 of 1990 titled as The Bhupindra Flour Mills (P) Ltd. vs. Bhatinda Improvement Trust, Bhatinda and others and CWP No. 14477 of 1990 titled as Madan Lal Katia and others vs. The Land Acquisition Tribunal Improvement Trust, Bhatinda and others. As common questions of law and facts are involved and the acquisition being one, these writ petitions are being decided by this common judgment with the consent of the counsel for the parties. Counsel for the claimants/land owners have, referring to the evidence on record and the Award passed by the Tribunal, asserted that the Tribunal had acknowledged the fact that the acquired land had potential value for use as a site for residential and commercial purposes but had only enhanced the amount of compensation taking into consideration a sale deed of the year 1972 whereas the land was acquired in the year 1974. They contend that the relevant date for determining the market value of the land is 09.08.1974 when the notification was first published under Section 36 of the 1922 Act. They submit that it is an admitted position that Bhupindra Flour Mills and Jagjit Cinema were adjacent to the land acquired. On the Northern side, there was a Clinic. On the land acquired, there were residential houses, which were in the form of well planned quarters for the mill workers which established that the land was already being used for residential and commercial purposes which weightage has not been given by the Tribunal while passing its Award. Further contention is that the claimants were able to place on record the sale deed dated 29.04.1974 (Ex. A8) where the price of the land CWP No. 14121 of 1990 and other connected cases 5 was ` 63.30 per Sq. Yard. The sale instances relied upon by the Improvement Trust were not of the same area and, therefore, no reliance can be placed thereon. The land, which has been acquired, is situated between two major roads, namely, the Amrik Singh Road and the Mill Road. Laxmi Oil Mills is situated at a distance of about 190 yards from the acquired land. Bhatinda is an important city and is developing, expanding and growing at a very fast pace. The land, as has been admitted, falls within the limits of the Municipal Committee and, therefore, has great potential value, which aspect has been overlooked by the Tribunal while passing its Award. The land of Jagjit Cinema was evaluated @ ` 80/- per Sq. Yard on 01.03.1974 for the purpose of fixing the house tax. PW7 Surinder Kumar deposed from the record that the value of the land of Laxmi Oil Mills, Bathinda was ` 60/- per Sq. Yard as per the report of the Tehsildar dated 01.08.1974. On this basis, it has been contended that the price of the land of the claimants cannot be less than ` 80/- per Sq. Yard, accordingly, prayer for the enhancement of amount of compensation has been made. On the other hand, counsel for the Improvement Trust, Bathinda, has vehemently argued that the evidence, which has come on record, shows the land to be valued at ` 10/- per Sq. Yard, which has been rightly assessed by the Land Acquisition Collector and does not deserve to be enhanced. The compensation, which has been granted by the Tribunal, is on the higher side and based on hypothetical assumptions. The Tribunal has granted them the statutory benefits of the 1894 Act, which they would not be entitled to. He, accordingly, prays for setting aside of the Award passed by the Tribunal. We have heard counsel for the parties and have gone through CWP No. 14121 of 1990 and other connected cases 6 the records of the case as also the evidence led by the parties. It is apparent from the Award and the evidence, which has been led by the parties before the Tribunal, that the land, which has been acquired, was already being used to a great extent as a residential area. This fact is clear from the Award passed by the Land Acquisition Collector where the structures standing on the land have been assessed at ` 2,57,445/-. Some of the area is stated to be low lying area where there were ditches and waste water was accumulating therein but by and large, the area could be used for residential purposes, for which the land was acquired. Apart from that, the land acquired touched the two main roads, namely, the Mill Road and Amrik Singh Road. These were two roads on the East and West of the land acquired and thus, the acquired land was in between the two roads. Bhupindra Flour Mill and Jagjit Cinema were adjacent to the land acquired and Kanwal Cinema and shops were situated on the Mill Road. To the South of the land acquired was Laxmi Oil Mill and Cold Storage was 190 yards from the acquired land. Dr. Siri Paul Nursing Home was on the North of the land acquired and adjacent thereto was the SSD Girls College. All this is apparent from the site plan, which has been placed on record. The Tribunal, in its Award, has acknowledged that a part of the land is being used for residential purposes and since the land was falling on the two roads, it had great commercial and residential potential, especially in the light of the fact that there were shops, Cinema Houses and Flour and Oil Mill as also a Nursing Home adjacent to/near the land acquired. It is an admitted fact that the land of Jagjit Cinema was assessed @ ` 80/- per Sq. Yard for the purpose of House Tax by the Municipal Committee, which is adjacent to the acquired land, which fact was stated by AW-6 Jaswinder Singh, House Tax Clerk, Municipal CWP No. 14121 of 1990 and other connected cases 7 Committee, Bathinda, even if some value can be assessed for the building standing on the land, the value of the land could not be less than ` 60/- per Sq. Yard. The sale instances, which have been relied upon by the claimants and especially, the sale deed dated 29.04.1974 (Ex. A8), which is quite near to the relevant date on which the market value is to be assessed, reflects the market value to be ` 63.30- per Sq. Yard. If it is taken to be of a small plot, then also, it would not come to below ` 60/- per Sq. Yard. Keeping in view the sale instances, which have been placed on record by the claimants and adding up the potential value of the land, for which it could be put to use comparable to the land of surrounding area, we are of the considered view that the market value of the land was not less than ` 60/- per Sq. Yard at the time of acquisition. The contention of the counsel for the Trust that the value of the land has been assessed at a higher rate than the prevalent rate on the site, cannot be accepted. Accordingly, the amount of compensation, which the claimants are entitled to for the acquired land, is increased to ` 60/- per Sq. Yard. In view of the above, CWP Nos. 14121, 14421, 14156, 15566 and 14477 of 1990 are allowed and the petitioners therein are held entitled to compensation of ` 60/- per Sq. Yard for the land acquired along with all statutory benefits as granted by the Tribunal in its Award. CWP Nos. 8691, 8693 and 8698 of 1990 preferred by the Improvement Trust, Bathinda, are hereby dismissed. No costs. ( JASBIR SINGH ) ( AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH ) JUDGE JUDGE CWP No. 14121 of 1990 and other connected cases 8 August 23, 2011 pj CWP No. 14121 of 1990 and other connected cases 9