R.F.A. No. 694 of 1985 [ 1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of decision: October 15 ,2008 (1) R.F.A. No. 694 of 1985 Sunder Singh and another .. Appellants Vs. State of Haryana .. Respondent (2) R.F.A. No. 814 of 1985 Madan Mohan and others .. Appellants Vs. State of Haryana .. Respondent (3) R.F.A. No. 723 of 1985 Harpal Singh Bedi and others .. Appellants Vs. State of Haryana .. Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL Present: Mr. Shailendra Jain, Advocate for the appellants in R.F.A. No. 694 of 1985. Mr. Rajnish Narula, Advocate for Mr. Pritam Saini, Advocate for the appellants in R.F.A. Nos 814 and 823 of 1985. Mr. Deepak Girotra, Assistant Advocate General, Haryana for the State of Haryana. Rajesh Bindal J. This order shall dispose of the above mentioned R.F.A. Nos. 694, 814 and 723 of 1985, as the same arise out of the common acquisition. However, the facts have been extracted from R.F.A. No. 694 of 1985. Briefly, the facts are that land measuring 3.58 acres in Village Fatehpur was acquired vide notification dated 22.6.1973 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act') for development and utilisation of land as residential, commercial and industrial area in Urban Estate, Panchkula. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, `the Collector') gave award R.F.A. No. 694 of 1985 [ 2] of Rs. 17,600/- per acre. Aggrieved against the same, the land owners filed objections which were referred to the learned Additional District Judge, Ambala, who keeping in view the material placed on record by the parties, awarded Rs. 23,750/- per acre. Learned counsel for the appellants submitted that the land of appellants in the present case is situated on the main road, whereas for the land pertaining to Village Reilly, which was also acquired by the same notification dated 22.6.1973, the learned Additional District Judge vide his award dated 11.9.1993, granted compensation of the acquired land @ Rs. 35,000/- per acre, relying upon an earlier award of the Court below. The same was accepted by the State as no appeal was filed. He further referred to the site plan placed on record showing the location of the land pertaining to village Reilly, which was behind the land of the appellants in the present case. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State referred to the judgment of this Court in R.F.A. No. 80 of 1983— Smt. Hazuri v. The State of Haryana, decided on 10.1.1989 and submitted that for the land acquired vide same notification, compensation @ Rs. 23,750/- per acre, as awarded by the learned Court below, was upheld by this Court. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. A perusal of award dated 11.9.1993, placed on record as Annexure A.5, shows that the same pertained to acquisition of land vide notification dated 22.6.1973 of Village Reilly, whereas the land in the present case belongs to Village Fatehpur. The State in the proceedings before the Court below in the case pertaining to acquisition of land for Village Reilly relied upon an earlier award of the Court below, granting compensation @ Rs. 35,000/- per acre for the land classified as Bagh Abi land. A perusal of that award shows that acquisition involved therein was for the land pertaining to Village Dhillan, which was acquired vide notification dated 24.8.1973. In the said award, the learned Court below assessed the value @ Rs. 35,000/- per acre for Bagh Abi land; Rs. 30,000/- per acre for Abi land and Rs. 5,000/- per acre for gair mumkin land. A perusal of the site plan, placed on record by the appellants, shows that the land in question is better located, as compared to the land of Village Reilly, as the same is abutting the main road, whereas the land of Village Relly is behind that. A perusal of the impugned award shows that the Collector assessed the value of land at uniform rate of Rs. 17,600/- per acre, whereas the assessment of the Collector in the case of Village Reilly was Rs. 12,250/- per acre for chahi land and Rs. 1,200/- per acre for gair mumkin land. R.F.A. No. 694 of 1985 [ 3] Keeping in view the location of the land in the present case and the award (Annexure A.5), the value of the acquired land in question can very well be assessed @ Rs. 35,000/- per acre for Bagh Abi land and Rs. 30,000/- per acre for Abi land and is assessed as such, whereas the award of the learned Court below with regard to gair mumkin land is upheld. The appellants shall also be entitled to all statutory benefits available to them under the Act. Accordingly, the appeals are allowed in the above terms with costs. (Rajesh Bindal) Judge October 15 ,2008 mk