R.F.A. No. 1871 of 1990 [1] In the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh R.F.A. No. 1871 of 1990 (O&M) Date of decision : December 05, 2008 Chokha Ram .. Appellant v. The State of Haryana and another .. Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Mr. O. P. Sharda, Advocate for the appellant. Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Additional Advocate General, Haryana for the State. Rajesh Bindal J. The land owner is in appeal against the award of the learned court below seeking further enhancement of compensation for the acquired land. Briefly, the facts are that vide notification dated 2.3.1987, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act'), land measuring one acre in village Hathin, Hadbast No. 252, Tehsil Hathin, District Faridabad was acquired for development and utilisation as industrial area. The same was followed by notification dated 17.8.1987 issued under Section 6 of the Act. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, `the Collector') determined the market value of the acquired land at Rs. 30,000/- per acre. As the land owner was dissatisfied, he filed objections, which were referred to the learned Additional District Judge, Faridabad for consideration, who keeping in view the material placed before him, upheld the award of the Collector. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that value of the land, as assessed by the learned court below, deserves further increase keeping in view the fact that the material placed on record by him in the form of sale deeds (Ex. P1 to Ex. P3) has not been considered. The submission is that in fact large chunk of land measuring 411 kanals and 2 marlas of land forming part of the same Hadbast No. 252 in village Hathin was acquired vide notification dated 25.7.1980 and it was merely one acre of land which was left out and adjoining the land acquired in the year 1980, which was acquired vide notification dated 2.3.1987, which is subject matter of consideration in the present case. He further submitted that the land R.F.A. No. 1871 of 1990 [2] pertaining to sale deed (Ex. P2) is situated merely at a distance of 10 acres from the acquired land, whereas the land pertaining to sale deed (Ex. P3) is located merely at a distance of 5 acres from the acquired land. Sale deed (Ex. P1) was not pressed for the reason that the same was registered after the date of acquisition. He further referred to an award of the learned Reference Court pertaining to acquisition vide notification dated 25.7.1980, whereby vide award dated 20.3.1998, the value of the acquired land was determined at Rs. 21/- per square yard on the basis of independent material placed on record therein and also considering the fact that earlier in certain references, the award of the Collector was upheld as no evidence was led by the land owners therein. According to the learned counsel for the appellant, the aforesaid award attained finality. The submission is that once for the land acquired in the year 1980 in the vicinity of the present land, the value has been determined at Rs. 21/- per square yard, the appellant in the present case is entitled to much more than that. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State submitted that value of the land, as assessed by the learned court below in the present case does not call for any further increase. The Collector has already assessed the same at Rs. 30,000/- per acre. The claim of the appellant that the same is valued at Rs. 100/- per square yard is highly exaggerated. He further submitted that in some of the cases, initially the award of the Collector pertaining to the acquisition of 1980 was upheld where the value was assessed at Rs. 18,000/- per acre. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the relevant referred record. A perusal of site plan (Ex. R1) shows the land which was acquired vide notification dated 25.7.1980 and also the land which was acquired vide notification dated 2.3.1987, which is subject matter of the present appeal. A perusal thereof shows that it is merely one acre of land, located in large chunk of land, which was acquired lateron. The big chunk of land was acquired in the year 1980. It is not in dispute that earlier the award of the Collector pertaining to the acquisition of 1980 was upheld. However, later on in some land references, considering the material independently placed on record, the learned Reference Court determined the value therein at Rs. 21/- per square yard. Incidentally, the award, as is sought to be relied upon, was also pertaining to the land owned by present appellant- Chokha Ram son of Khan Chand. Accordingly, the statement of learned counsel that the award attained finality can be relied upon in the absence of any contradiction from the learned counsel for the State. In addition to this, two sale deeds have also been placed on record, namely, Ex. P2 dated 7.1.1981, R.F.A. No. 1871 of 1990 [3] whereby two marlas of land was sold for a sum of Rs. 3,000/- at an average price of Rs. 2,40,000/- per acre and Ex. P3 dated 29.9.1982, whereby 4 kanals and 1 marla of land was sold for a sum of Rs. 44,000/- at an average price of Rs. 86,900/- per acre. As far as location of the land pertaining to the aforesaid two sale deeds is concerned, it has been noticed by the learned Reference Court in para 10 of the impugned award that the land pertaining to sale deed (Ex. P2) is situated at a distance of 10 acres from the acquired land, whereas the land pertaining to sale deed (Ex. P3) is situated at a distance of 5 acres from the acquired land. Both the sale deeds show price range between Rs. 86,900/- per acre to Rs. 2,40,000/- per acre in the year 1981-82 for small and big pieces of land. The value, as was determined by the learned court below in the award pertaining to the acquisition of land of the appellant in the year 1980 also shows an average price per acre of Rs. 1,01,640/-, if 21 is multiplied by 4840. Keeping in view the aforesaid two sale deeds and also the earlier award pertaining to 1980 acquisition and considering the fact that acquisition in the present case was made 6-1/2 years later, in my considered opinion, Rs. 25/- per square yard should be the value of the acquired land. Ordered accordingly. The appellant shall also be entitled to all statutory benefits available under the Act. The appeal is allowed in the above terms. (Rajesh Bindal) Judge December 05, 2008 mk