R. F. A No. 2301 of 2009 1 In the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh R. F. A No. 2301 of 2009 (O&M) Date of decision : 1.2.2011 Bhupinder Singh and another ..... Appellants vs Union Territory, Chandigarh ... Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Mr. P. C. Dhiman, Advocate, and Mr. Tapan K. Yadav, Advocate for Mr. D. S. Raghu, Advocate, for the landowners. Mr. Vishal Sodhi, Advocate, in RFA No. 2301 of 2009 and Mr. Hitesh Pandit, Advocate for Mr. Rajesh Garg, Advocate, for Union Territory, Chandigarh. Rajesh Bindal J. This order will dispose of appeals bearing RFA Nos. 2301, 2855, 2923, 3199, 3200, 5562 of 2009 and 4173 of 2010, as common questions of law and facts are involved therein. The landowners have approached this court through the present appeals seeking further enhancement of the compensation whereas by filing appeal Union Territory, Chandigarh is seeking reduction thereof. Briefly, the facts are that vide notification dated 20.6.2001, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, 'the Act'), Chandigarh Administration sought to acquire land measuring 21 kanals 19 marlas situated within the revenue estates of villages Nizampur Kumbra, Nizampur Burial and Jhumru, for development of third phase of Union Territory, Chandigarh. The same was followed by notification under Section 6 of the Act dated 18.10.2001. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, 'the Collector') vide award no. 555 dated 10.1.2003 assessed the market value of the acquired land @ ` 8,21,120/- per acre for village Nizampur Kumbra, ` 6,85,000/- per acre for village Nizampur Burial and ` 5,36,427/- per acre for village Jhumru. Dissatisfied with the award of the Collector, the landowners filed objections. On reference under Section 18 of R. F. A No. 2301 of 2009 2 the Act, the learned court below vide award dated 5.2.2009, determined the market value of the acquired land by relying upon its earlier award, Ex.P-12, @ ` 18,61,400/- per acre. It is this award which is challenged in the present set of appeals. Learned counsel for the appellants submitted that award of the court below is not just and fair keeping in view the location and potentiality of the land. He submitted that the acquired land is surrounded by fully developed sectors but the court below has ignored this fact while assessing the market value of the acquired land. The notification under Section 4 of the Act was issued on 20.6.2001. The learned court below has assessed the compensation by relying upon its earlier award dated 10.8.2006, Ex. P-12, vide which the market value of the land of villages Kajheri and Nizampur Kumbra, acquired vide notification under Section 4 of the Act dated 4.5.2000 for the same very purpose, was determined. The valuation of land acquired earlier was subject matter of appeal before this court, wherein vide judgment dated 2.4.2009 passed in RFA No. 4238 of 2006- Mrs. Avtar Sachdev and others vs Union Territory, Chandigarh, this court determined the market value of the acquired land therein @ ` 20,78,400/- per acre, whereas for gair mumkin nadi, choe and khadan, the compensation was assessed @ ` 8,66,000/- per acre. Placing reliance thereon, the submission is that since the value of the land in the present set of appeals was determined by the learned court below while relying upon its earlier award dated 10.8.2006, Ex. P-12, for the land acquired vide notification dated 4.5.2000, situated in the vicinity and for the same very purpose, the value of the acquired land in question should be assessed at the rate assessed by this court by granting further increase @ 15% per annum for the time gap in the two notifications which is nearly 14 months, keeping in view the potentiality and location of the land. On the other hand, learned counsel appearing for Union Territory, Chandigarh, submitted that just and fair compensation has been awarded by the court below after considering the evidence led by the parties. It is the left out portion of the earlier acquired land and the court below has granted considerable increase for the same, which does not call for any interference. R. F. A No. 2301 of 2009 3 Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the relevant referred record. It is admitted case of the parties that the land in question is the left out portion of the land acquired earlier in the vicinity for the same very purpose. It is also admitted that this court in Mrs. Avtar Sachdev's case (supra), had determined the market value of the land acquired vide notification dated 4.5.2000 for the same very purpose @ ` 20,78,400/- per acre. The present land was acquired vide notification dated 20.6.2001 i.e. after about 14 months from the earlier notification. If the base is taken in terms of the value of the land as given in Mrs. Avtar Sachdev's case (supra) reasonable increase for time gap in between two acquisitions can very well be granted. Keeping in view the time gap of 14 months years between the two acquisitions, in my opinion, increase @ 12% per annum at ` 20,78,400/- would be reasonable. Accordingly, the value of the acquired land in the present case is determined @ ` 23,27,800/- per acre. The appellants shall also be entitled to the statutory benefits available under the Act. To ensure that the landowners are not fleeced by the middleman in the process of disbursement of enhanced compensation, Hon'ble the Supreme Court in a recent judgment in Civil Appeal No. 6515 of 2009 Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation vs Pran Sukh and others decided on 17.8.2010, issued certain directions. I deem it appropriate to issue the same directions in the present set of appeals as well. The same are as under:- “With a view to ensure that the land owners are not fleeced by the middleman, we deem it proper to issue following further directions: (i) The Land Acquisition Collector shall depute officers subordinate to him not below the rank of Naib Tehsildar, who shall get in touch with all the land owners and/or their legal representatives and inform them about their entitlement and right to receive enhanced compensation. R. F. A No. 2301 of 2009 4 (ii) The concerned officers shall also instruct the land owners and/or their legal representatives to open saving bank account in case they already do not have such account. (iii) The bank account numbers of the land owners should be given to the Land Acquisition Collector within three months. (iv) The Land Acquisition Collector shall deposit the cheques of compensation in the bank accounts of the land owners.” The appeals are disposed of in the above terms. 1.2.2011 (Rajesh Bindal) vs. Judge