RFA No. 1163 of 1991 1 In the Punjab and Haryana High Court,at Chandigarh. Decided on April 16,2009. State of Punjab through Collector Land Acquisition --Appellant vs. Laddu Ram and others -- Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE RAKESH KUMAR JAIN Present: Mr.N.S.Pawar,Addl.A.G.Punjab, for the appellant Mr.P.S.Saini,Advocate, for the the respondents. Rakesh Kumar Jain,J: This judgment shall dispose of nine Regular First Appeals bearing Nos.1163 and 1164 of 1991, RFA No.1165 of 1991 with X objection No. 10-CI of 1992, 1166,1167 with X-objection No.11-CI of 1992, 1168,1169,1301 and 1852 of 1991 filed by the State of Punjab and the cross objections by the claimants, being aggrieved against the award of Additional District Judge, Patiala, dated 16.1.1991. Since identical question of law and facts are involved in these appeals, therefore, these are being decided by this common judgment. The facts are taken from RFA No.1163 of 1991. Vide notification issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short,'the Act'), dated 9/10.3.1987 land of vllage Manakpur, Tehsil Rajpura, District Patiala, was acquired at public expense, for public purpose, namely, for the construction of Nation Distributory from R.D.O to 5049 Meters. The Land Acquisition Collector, (for short, 'the Collector'), vide RFA No. 1163 of 1991 2 his award No. 217/P-SYL dated 10.9.1987, assessed the compensation for Chahi land @ Rs. 62000/- per acre and for Gair Mumkin land @ Rs. 35,000/- per acre. In the objections filed under Section 18 of the Act, the landowners prayed for redetermination of the compensation given by the Civil Court. It was alleged that market value of the acquired land at the time of issuance of notification under Section 4 of the Act was not less than Rs.5 lacs per acre because Manakpur is a fast developing place having all amenities of a small town. The State of Punjab filed reply pleading that the award of the Collector is just and legal and does not call for any interference. The claimants produced on record a copy of judgment dated 19.9.1989 Ex.A-1, another copy of judgment dated 08.2.1990 delivered by Mr. A.S.Gill as Ex.A-2, and a copy of judgment delivered by this Court as Ex.A-3. The respondents ,however, produced copy of sale deed Ex.R-1 and mainly relied upon award of the Collector. The learned Reference Court, after appreciating the evidence available on record, ignored the sale deed Ex. R-1 dated 13.6.1986 and also the award Ex.R-2 dated 26.11.1986 on the ground that even the Collector did not rely upon these documents. The learned Court below rather relied upon copy of the judgment Ex.A-1 dated 19.9.1989 vide which value of the land of village Manakpur acquired vide notification dated 20.8.1985 was determined so far as Chahi land is concerned @ Rs. 76880/- per acre. The learned Reference Court thus granted the same compensation for Chahi land @ Rs.76,880/- per acre and for Gair Mumkin land @ Rs 43,400/- per acre. Mr.P.S.Saini, learned counsel for the appellants/Cross objectors RFA No. 1163 of 1991 3 in RFA No. 1852 of 1991 has vehemently contended that the learned Reference Court has relied upon an earlier award of a Co-ordinate Bench of Mr. A.S.Gill (Ex A-1) dated 19.9.1989 pertaining to acquisition of 1985 of village Manakpur, whereas land of village Manakpur Tehsil Rajpura, District Patiala, was earlier acquired vide notification under Section 4 of the Act dated 4.12.1982, for the public purpose, namely, for the construction of S.Y.L. Canal. He further contended that the matter pertaining to acquisition of land of village Manakpur vide notification dated 04.12.1982 has been ultimately decided by a Division Bench of this Court in L.P.A. No.681 of 1989 (Joginder Singh and others Vs. State of Punjab) on 29.9.1997 in which 72.02 acres of land of village Manakpur was acquired . The Collector vide his award dated 30.4.1984 granted compensation @ Rs.55,000/- per acre for Gair-Mumkin Abadi land,@ Rs. 27,500/- per acre for chahi land and @ Rs.1100/- per acre ford Gair-Mumkin land. The District Judge,Patiala, re-assessed the compensation @ Rs. 1,24,000/- per acre for Abadi land, @ Rs.62,000/- per acre for Chahi land and @ Rs.30,000/- per acre for Gair Mimkin land. The learned Division Bench of this Court modified the award of the District Judge, Patiala and redetermined the compensation in respect of Chahi land only to the tune of Rs.1,00,000/- per acre. Learned counsel for the appellants has further referred to the decision in RFA No. 231 of 1991 (Asa Ram Vs. State of Punjab and another) in which the land of village Manakpur,Tehsil Rajpura, District Patiala, was acquired for the construction of S.Y.L. Canal. The Collector vide his award dated 21.5.1986 assessed the compensation which was further modified by the Addl.District Judge, Patiala, vide his award dated 18.9.1990 awarding RFA No. 1163 of 1991 4 compensation @ Rs.76,800/- per acre for Chahi land, @ Rs.62,000/- per acre for for Barani land and Rs.43,400/- per acre for Gair Mumkin land. In this case, decision of the Division Bench of this Court in L.P.A. No.681 of 1989 -Joginder Singh's Case (Supra) was pressed and after taking the same into consideration, the learned Single Judge of this Court vide his order dated 16.12.2003 granted the same compensation of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rs.one lac). Thus, keeping in view the aforesaid decision in Joginder Singh and Asa Ram Cases (Supra), the present appeals and Cross Objections filed by the claimants are allowed and the compensation for Chahi land is enhanced from Rs.76,800/- per acre to Rs.1,00,000/-(Rs.one lac) per acre. The appellants shall,however, be entitled to all the statutory benefits in terms of the provisions of the Amended Act on the enhanced compensation with costs of the appeals/cross objections. Rest of the award of the Court below shall remain intact. The appeals filed by the State of Punjab for reduction of compensation are found to be without any merits and the same are,therefore, dismissed without any costs. April 16,2009 (Rakesh Kumar Jain) RR Judge