RFA No.1179 of 1992 1 In the Punjab and Haryana High Court,at Chandigarh. RFA No. 1179 of 1992 Decided on February 02,2009. Amar Dass and others --Appellants vs. The State of Punjab -- Respondent Present: None for the appellants. Mr.N.S.Pawar,Addl.A.G.Punjab,for the respondent. Rakesh Kumar Jain,J: (Oral) This judgment shall dispose of seventeen Regular First Appeals filed by the claimants/landowners as well as the State of Punjab, bearing Nos.1179 of 1992, 693, 1257, 1137, 1131, 1132, 1133, 1134,1135,685,686,687,688,689,690,691 and 692 of 1993. Since identical question of law and facts are involved there in, therefore, these are being disposed of by a common judgment. The facts,however, are taken from RFA No.1179 of 1992. An area of 4.31 acres situated in the revenue estate of village Shamashpur, Hadbast No.128, Tehsil Nabha, District Patiala, was acquired for the public purpose, namely, for construction of Sirhind Choe from RD 419130 to RD 518952. Notification issued RFA No.1179 of 1992 2 under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, (for short,'the Act') was published on 20.8.1982, it was followed by a notification of declaration issued under Section 6 of the Act which was published on 26.9.1984 in the Government Gazette. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short,'the Collector') vide his award No. 236/P dated 23.9.1986 assessed the compensation of the acquired land @ Rs 20,000/- per acre. The landowners felt dis-satisfied with the award of the Collector and filed objections under Section 18 of the Act alleging that the acquired land is adjacent to Municipal limits of Amloh/Sirhind and Gobindgarh and its market value was not less Rs.one lac. per acre having potential to be developed as an industrial and commercial area. The respondents controverted the claim of the landowners/claimants and maintained that the acquired land is at a distance of 5 Kilometers from Amloh, 11 kilometers from Gobindgarh and 12 kilometers from Sirhind, therefore, the compensation awarded by the Collector is fair and adequate having been assessed as per the market value prevailing at the time of the acquisition. The learned Reference Court after taking into consideration the evidence led by the parties, re-assessed the compensation for chahi land @ Rs. 32,000/- per acre. Mr. N.S.Pawar, Addl.A.G.Punjab, appearing for the State of Punjab has vehemently contended that the learned Reference Court has committed an error while rejecting the sale deed Ex. R-1 vide which 4 Bighas 7 Biswas and 11 Biswansi was sold for Rs. 16,501/- which comes to Rs. 17510/- per acre. RFA No.1179 of 1992 3 I have heard learned counsel for the State of Punjab and have gone through the record with his assistance. I am of the view that the learned Reference Court has rightly ignored sale deed Ex. R-1 because even the Collector has awarded compensation @ Rs.20,000/- per acre, therefore, the learned Reference Court had no jurisdiction to determine the compensation less than the award of the Collector in view of the provisions of Section 25 of the Act. No other point has been raised before me by the learned counsel appearing for the State of Punjab. No one has put in appearance on behalf of the landowners/claimants. In view of the above, the present appeals filed by the landowners/claimants as well as the State of Punjab are hereby dismissed. No order as to costs. February 02,2009 (Rakesh Kumar Jain) RR Judge