IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH AT SHIMLA RFA Nos. 418 to 427 & 429 to 431 of 2005 Date of Decision : 18.11.2009 __________________________________________________________ 1. RFA No. 418 of 2005 LAC and another ….Appellants Versus Banti Devi & others ….Respondents. 2. RFA No. 419 of 2005 LAC & anothers ….Appellants. Versus Krishan and others ….Respondents. 3. RFA No. 420 of 2005 LAC & anothers ….Appellants. Versus Shiv Ram & others ….Respondents. 4. RFA No. 421 of 2005 LAC and another …Appellants Versus Prem Singh & others ….Respondents 5. RFA No. 422 of 2005 LAC & another ….Appellants. Versus Santokhi Devi & others ….Respondents 6. RFA No. 423 of 2005 LAC & another ….Appellants. Versus Durga & another ….Respondents 7. RFA No. 424 of 2005 LAC & another ….Appellants. Versus Wanti Devi & others ….Respondents 8. RFA No. 425 of 2005 LAC & another ….Appellants. Versus Kanshi Ram & others ….Respondents 9. RFA No. 426 of 2005 LAC & another ….Appellants. Versus Mansha Ram & others ….Respondents 2 10. RFA No. 427 of 2005 LAC & another ….Appellants. Versus Gopal Dass & another ….Respondents 11. RFA No. 429 of 2005 LAC & another ….Appellants. Versus Banti Devi & others ….Respondents 12. RFA No. 430 of 2005 LAC & another ….Appellants. Versus Fulla Devi & others ….Respondents 13. RFA No. 431 of 2005 LAC & another ….Appellants. Versus Kuldeep Kumar & others ….Respondents ___________________________________________________________ Coram The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dev Darshan Sud, J. Whether approved for reporting?1 No. __________________________________________________________ RFA Nos. 419 to 427 & 429 to 431 of 2005, For the Appellants: Shri R.K. Bawa, Advocate General with Ms. Ruma Kaushik, Addl.A.G. For the Respondents : Shri T.S. Chauhan, Advocate. __________________________________________________________ Dev Darshan Sud, J. All these appeals arise out of a common award made by the learned Reference Court and are being disposed of by a common judgment as they involve a common question of law and fact. The land of the respondents- claimants which is situated in village Balla was acquired by the State Government for construction of Gallian-Balla road. The details of the holdings of the respondents-claimants are given herein under:- 1 Whether reports of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes. 3 Sr. No. Petition Name of parties Khasra No. Area 1. 2. 3. 4. 5._________ 1. 54/2001 Jeet Ram, deceased 22/1 2.14 bighas through LRs. Vs. LAC etc. 2. 55/2001 Krishan etc. 43/1 1.0 bigha Vs. LAC etc. 3. 56/2001 Shiv Ram etc. 105/1 1.18 bighas Vs. LAC etc. 270/1 4. 57/2001 Prem Singh etc. 42/1 0.18 bigha Vs. LAC etc. 264/1 5. 58/2001 Nathu Ram deceased 80/1 2.10 bigha through LRs Vs. LAC etc. 6. 59/2001 Durga etc. 81/1 2.5 bighas Vs. LAC etc. 7. 60/2001 Bakshi Ram 419/61/1 1.4 bigha Vs. LAC etc. 8. 61/2001 Kanshi Ram etc. 17/1 0.19 bigha Vs. LAC etc. 9. 62/2001 Mansha Ram etc. 216/1 0.4 bigha Vs. LAC etc. 10. 63/2001 Gopal Dass etc. 236/1 1.1 bigha Vs. LAC etc. 11. 64/2001 Bansi etc. 232/1 0.16 bigha Vs. LAC etc. 12. 65/2001 Bakshi Ram, 51/1 0.4 bigha deceased through LRs Vs. LAC etc. 13. 66/2001 Shankaru, deleted 15/1 1.5 bighas Fulla Devi etc. 266/1 Vs. LAC etc. 14. 67/2001 Kuldeep etc. 44/1 0.7 bigha Vs. LAC etc. 4 Notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) was issued on 3rd December, 1995. Being dissatisfied by the award made by the Land Acquisition Collector, the claimants- respondents preferred petitions under Section 18 of the Act. It is urged on behalf of the appellant that the learned Court is wrong in fixing the market value of land. The respondents-claimants produced sale instances before and after the notification under Section 4 of the Act, which was issued on 3.12.1995. The sales instances relied upon by the learned Reference Court are detailed herein under:- “i) Ext.PW3/A sale deed, dated 14.11.1995 whereby one biswa of land situated in village Sair, Pargna Geharwin was sold by one Shiv Ram S/O Shri Ram Dittu in favour of Prakash Chand S/O Shri Roshan Lal, R/O Sair, for consideration of Rs. 30,000/-. ii) Ext.PA is sale deed dated 15.12.1992 whereby land measuring 1 biswa situated in village Behran Brahmna was sold by one Ram Lal S/O Shri Balwant in favour of Nand Lal S/O Shri Jagga for consideration of Rs. 30,000/-. iii) Ext.PB is copy of the sale deed dated 5.2.1991 whereby land measuring 1 biswa situated in village Beharan, Pargna Geharwin was sold by one Kulwant S/O Shri Gurditta, R/O Behran in favour of Prem Lal S/O Shri Rishi for consideration of Rs. 30,000/-. iv) Ext.PC copy of sale deed dated 21.8.1993 whereby land measuring 1 biswa situated in village Behran, Pr. Geharwin was sold by one Prem Lal S/O Shri Rikhi Ram in favour of Himachal Country Resorts Ltd. for a consideration of Rs. 1,25,000/-. v) Ext.PD another sale deed dated 26.5.2004 whereby land measuring 1 biswa situated in village Bala, Pr. Geharwin was sold by one Prem Singh S/O Shri Kirpa Ram in village Behran in favour of Nitu D/O Shri Beria for a consideration of Rs. 45,000/-.” The claimants-respondents produced as many as five witnesses and the respondent relied upon the sole testimony of RW1 and submitted Ext.RA which is a sale deed dated 20.5.1995 with respect to five biswas of land situated in village Balla. The learned Judge while considering the evidence and fixing the 5 price of land holds that Ext.RA cannot be relied upon for the reason that no sale consideration was paid before the Registrar and secondly, land was sold by Sunka Ram in favour of Raghu Ram as the vendor was in dire need of money for domestic affairs. Therefore, it cannot be taken to be a sale transaction where the consideration had been fixed by free consent of parties. The learned Court relied upon sale deeds Ext.PW3/A dated 14.11.1995, Ext.PA dated 15.12.1992, Ext.PB dated 5.2.1991 and Ext.PC dated 21.8.1993 with respect to one biswa of land, where consideration has been fixed at Rs. 30,000/-, Rs. 45,000/- and 1,25,000/- respectively. The learned Court holds that average value of one biswa of land comes to Rs. 30,000/- after taking into consideration Ext.PW3/A, Ext.PA, Ext.PB and Ext.PC. From this, 2/3rd has been deducted as these are small holdings and those of the respondents-claimants are considered to be large holdings. I cannot persuade myself to take a different view of the matter. Ext.RA cannot form the basis of any sale price for the reason as recorded by the learned Reference Court, namely, no consideration had been paid before the Registrar and sale having been made for dire necessity. On the other aspect of the matter, i.e. fixing the value of land at Rs.10,000/- per biswa after considering three sale deeds, the reasoning cannot be faulted with. 2/3rd deductions, which are substantial, have been made for determining the just compensation/sale price payable for this land. No other point is urged before me. All these appeals are therefore dismissed. All miscellaneous applications are disposed of. Costs on parties. November 18, 2009 (Dev Darshan Sud) (ms) Judge