(1) FA. 221.1995 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD FIRST APPEAL NO. 221 OF 1995 The State of Maharashtra through Collector, Jalgaon .. Appellant VERSUS Dayaram Bhagirath Patil, Age : 45 years, Occu.: Agri., Resident of Veruli Kd. Tal. Pachora, Dist. Jalgaon .. Respondent WITH FIRST APPEAL NO. 257 OF 1995 The State of Maharashtra through Special Land Acquisition Officer, U.T.P., Jalgaon .. Appellant VERSUS Kautik Gorakh Patil, Age : 47 years, Occu.: Agri., Resident of Bildi, Tal. Pachora, Dist. Jalgaon .. Respondent WITH FIRST APPEAL NO. 258 OF 1995 The State of Maharashtra through Special Land Acquisition Officer, U.T.P., Jalgaon .. Appellant VERSUS Murlidhar Narayan Patil, since deceased through LRs. [1] Sarubai w/o Murlidhar Patil Age : 53 years, Occu.: Household, R/o Pachora, Dist. Jalgaon (2) FA. 221.1995 [2] Moreshwar S/o Murlidhar Patil, Age : 35 years, Occu.: Business, R/o Pachora, Dist. Jalgaon [3] Sandip S/o Murlidhar Patil, Age : 28 years, Occu.: Business, R/o Pachora, Dist. Jalgaon .. Respondents WITH FIRST APPEAL NO. 259 OF 1995 The State of Maharashtra through Special Land Acquisition Officer, U.T.P., Jalgaon .. Appellant VERSUS Ramchandra Mango Patil, Age : 50 years, Occu.: Agri., Resident of Goradkheda, Tal. Pachora, Dist. Jalgaon .. Respondent WITH FIRST APPEAL NO. 260 OF 1995 The State of Maharashtra through Special Land Acquisition Officer, U.T.P., Jalgaon .. Appellant VERSUS Lahu Zendu Nhavi, Age : 70 years, Occu.: Agri., Resident of Bildi, Tal. Pachora, Dist. Jalgaon .. Respondent WITH FIRST APPEAL NO. 261 OF 1995 The State of Maharashtra through Special Land Acquisition Officer, U.T.P., Jalgaon .. Appellant VERSUS Girdhar Totaram since died through his legal heirs:- 1] Onkar Totaram, since died through his Lrs. (3) FA. 221.1995 1-A] Santosh Onkar Kamble, Age : 29 years, 1-B] Chindhabai Onkar Kamble, Age : 65 years, 2] Gaba Girdhar Kamble 3] Babulal Girdhar Kamble, R/o Bildi, Tal. Pachora, Dist. Jalgaon .. Respondent WITH CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 4050 OF 1995 IN FIRST APPEAL NO. 257 OF 1995 Kautik Gorakh Patil .. Applicant VERSUS The State of Maharashtra .. Respondent WITH CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 4051 OF 1994 IN FIRST APPEAL NO. 259 OF 1995 Ramchandra Mango Patil .. Applicant VERSUS The State of Maharashtra .. Respondent AND CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 1166 OF 1998 IN FIRST APPEAL NO. 260 OF 1995 Lahu Zendu Nhavi .. Applicant VERSUS The State of Maharashtra .. Respondent Mrs. V.A. More, AGP for the appellant-State in all the First Appeals Mr.B.R. Warma, Advocate for the respondent(in F.A.221.95) Mr.S.V. Chandole, Advocate h/f. Mr. V.G. Sakolkar, Advocate for the respondent/applicant (in F.A. 257.95, F.A. 259.1995 and F.A. 260.1995) (4) FA. 221.1995 Mr.P.F. Patni, Advocate for the respondent(in F.A.258.95) None present for the respondents though served in F.A.261.1995 CORAM : A.V. NIRGUDE, J. DATED : 10TH MARCH, 2010 ORAL JUDGMENT:- 1] All these Appeals can be disposed of by this common judgment:- . These Appeals are challenging the judgments and awards passed by the learned Civil Judges Senior Division Jalgaon in Land Acquisition Reference nos. 375 of 1991, 122 of 1991, 123 of 1991, 124 of 1991, 126 of 1991 and 127 of 1991. Common feature of these references is that pieces of lands belonging to the respondents were acquired for Bahula project sometime after 22.03.1978. (The notification under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, was issued on that day). The Land Acquisition Officer awarded certain amounts as compensation to all the respondents. Being aggrieved by the inadequacy of the amount, they all came to the Civil Court with references under section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act. As said above, the learned Judges of the lower Court then decided the references. The learned Judges of the lower Court then decided the references. The smallest piece of land acquired belonging to one of the respondents, is 1 acre. Some of the lands measured up to 4 Hectare 59 R. These lands were situated at village Veruli and Bildi, Tq. Pachora. (5) FA. 221.1995 In order to prove their claim of enhanced compensation, the respondents placed reliance mainly on the sale instance of land gat no. 147 of village Khedgaon. It is stated that village Khedgaon is adjoining to village Veruli. The sale instance shows that a small piece of land admeasuring 20 Guntha was sold for Rs.17,000/-. The sale instance further shows that on this piece of land, there were godown, a well and a temple. It has also come on record that this land was situated on the bank of river Utawali and that the well supplied water to the crops raised on the adjoining land gat no. 148. The 7/12 extract of this land was brought on record and which indicated that this land was a jirayat land. 2] The question that is posed before me is whether the reliance on this solitary sale instance for determining the market value of the lands in question was proper? The answer is in negative. The respondents-claimants, rather curiously avoided to file on record the 7/12 extracts of their lands which were acquired. They simply suggested in their deposition that the land gat no. 147 of village Khedgaon was situated about 5-6 fields beyond their lands. This again is quite a vague description of the location of the land under the sale instance. Thus, there is hardly any material on record to show similarity between the lands in question and the land (6) FA. 221.1995 under the sale instance. However, I am of the view that instead of allowing the Appeals and rejecting the references, it would be better if the respondents are given another opportunity to adduce more evidence in support of their case. 3] Order:- . All the First Appeals are allowed. Impugned judgments and awards are set aside. The cases are remanded back to the lower Court. The learned Judge of the lower Court shall give one more opportunity to the parties to lead evidence. The learned Judge of the lower Court shall decide all the references as far as possible, within 6 months from the date of receipt of the R & P. . Consequently, Civil Application no. 4050 of 1995, 4051 of 1994 and 1166 of 1998 filed in these First Appeals also stand dismissed. Sd/- (A.V. NIRGUDE, J.) arp/