fa174.94 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD FIRST APPEAL NO. 174 OF 1994 Hemraj Hiralal Jain Age 45 year,s Occ. Agriculture, R/o. Parbhani, District Parbhani ...Appellant Versus 1 The State of Maharashtra Through the collector, Parbhani 2 The Special Land Acquisition Officer, Minor Works, Parbhani ...Respondents ..... Mr. G.C. Navandar, advocate for the appellant Mr. S.N. Kendre, AGP for respondents ..... CORAM: MRS. MRIDULA BHATKAR, J. DATED: 23RD AUGUST, 2011 JUDGMENT :- 1 The appellant has filed this first appeal challenging the judgment and award dated 19.10.1991, passed by the learned Civil Judge, Senior Division, Parbhani in L.A.R. No. 213 of 1983. The land acquired is from District Parbhani which is within the Municipal limits of Parbhani situate on Parbhani-Gangakhed Highway. The land acquired is as follows: fa174.94 -2- Survey No. 1528/1 79 R Survey No. 1530/2/1 3 R Survey No. 1530/2/2 22 R Survey No. 1530/2/4 78 R Survey No. 1530/2/7 11 R Total --------------- 1 H 93 R ======== Thus the total land acquired is 1 Hectare 93 Are. The S.L.A.O. has awarded total compensation of ` 36,600/- to the claimant. The claimant dissatisfied with the award passed by the S.L.A.O., challenged it in the reference made under section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act and the Reference Court enhanced the amount of compensation @ ` 284/- per Guntha and thus total amount of ` 55,000/- was awarded to the claimant. 2 In the present appeal, the appellant claimed compensation of ` 7624/- per guntha i.e. approximately ` 7/- per sq. feet. which comes to total amount of ` 14,71,432/-. The point for determination is framed as follows;- i) Whether the appellant is entitled to the enhanced compensation at the rate of ` 7/- sq. feet? 3 The lands situate within the Municipal limits of Parbhani Municipal Council. It was acquired by the acquiring authority for the fa174.94 -3- purpose of planned lay out and the construction of the houses i.e. for the public purpose. Admittedly, the learned counsel appearing for both the parties submit that the sale instance of the land bearing survey No. 529 from the same area was produced before the court. The L.A.R. No. 221 of 1983 was decided by awarding compensation of ` 3/- per sq. ft. The lands of the claimant situate in survey No. 528 and 530. Thus, the land survey No. 529 in L.A.R. No. 221 of 1983 is obviously adjacent to the lands of the claimant. The appellant while leading evidence before the Reference Court did not produce any sale deed in support of his claim of compensation @ ` 7/- per sq. ft. The Reference Court awarded the amount from ` 200/- to ` 284/- per guntha. The Reference court ought to have given due weightage to the location of the land and purpose of the acquisition. The acquisition was for the purpose of construction of the houses. It is also to be considered that the land was near the MIDC and it draws commercial value. While deciding the Reference, the copy of judgment in L.A.R. No. 221 of 1983 of survey number 529 did not produce, wherein the Reference Court has considered the other sale instances of the lands, which were acquired for the same project. Considering the proximity of the land, which is near to the developing area like MIDC and the amount of compensation awarded to the adjacent land i.e. survey No. 529, the same appreciation is required to be applied to the present land. The amount of compensation enhanced by the Reference court fa174.94 -4- @ ` 284/- per guntha i.e. ` 0.26 per sq. ft. is not adequate. On taking into account the location, the proximity to the developing area and price given to adjacent land Survey No. 529, the same is to be increased from ` 0.26 sq. ft. to ` 3/- per sq. ft. 4 In view of this, the first appeal is allowed and the impugned judgment and award passed by the Reference court is quashed and set aside. The appellant is entitled to solatium @ 30% on the enhanced amount of compensation and interest @ 9% p.a. for the first year and @ 15% p.a. for the subsequent years on the enhanced amount and solatium amount till full realization from the date of award. The appellant is also entitled to get additional compensation @ 12% p.a. on the amount of enhanced compensation from the date of notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act till the date of award. *****