fast3183.11 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY, BENCH AT AURANGABAD FIRST APPEAL ST. NO. 3183 OF 2011 The State of Maharashtra & another .. APPELLANTS VERSUS Balaji Maroti Somare .. RESPONDENT WITH FIRST APPEAL ST. NO. 3216 OF 2011 The State of Maharashtra & another .. APPELLANTS VERSUS Vilas Maroti Somare .. RESPONDENT WITH FIRST APPEAL ST. NO. 3205 OF 2011 The State of Maharashtra & another .. APPELLANT VERSUS Rangnath Dattatraya Sirsat .. RESPONDENT WITH FIRST APPEAL ST. NO. 3209 OF 2011 fast3183.11 2 The State of Maharashtra & another .. APPELLANTS VERSUS Sangita Balaji Somare .. RESPONDENT Mr. K.S. Patil, AGP for the State. CORAM : R.M. BORDE, J. DATE : AUGUST 2, 2011. PER COURT : 1 These are the appeals presented by the State raising exception to the judgment and award passed by the Jt. Civil Judge Sr.Dn., Ahmedpur in LAR NO. 318/2003 and other companion appeals on 26-2-2007. 2 Agricultural lands belonging to the claimants / respondents herein comprising of small pieces came to be acquired for construction of Water Storage Tank of village Kaudgaon Tq. Ahmedpur. Notification under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act was issued on 27-4-2000 and, after following the procedure prescribed under the Act, award came to be passed by the Land Acquisition Officer offering compensation at the rate of Rs. 15,000/- per acre. fast3183.11 3 Claimants, being dis-satisfied with the award passed by the Land Acquisition Officer, tendered separate applications seeking reference of the matter to the civil court for determination of proper market value of the acquired lands. Claimants claim compensation at the rate of rs. 2,00,000/- per acre. 3 In order to substantiate their claim, claimants placed reliance on oral as well as documentary evidence in the form of comparable sale instances. Sale instance at exh. 14 is in respect of land survey no. 183 admeasuring 80 R which has been sold for consideration of Rs. 2,00,000/-. The land is stated to be situate at a distance of about 1000 fts. away from the lands acquired. Another sale instance at exh. 12 is in respect of land survey no. 172 admeasuring 15 R which has been sold for consideration of Rs. 40,000/- on 17-7-1999. The witness for claimants has deposed that the land covered by the sale instance is situate at a distance of about 500 fts. from the acquired lands. Sale instances placed on record are pre-notification sale and as such, relevant for consideration for arriving at market price of the acquired lands. Reference court, on consideration of evidence placed on record, came to the conclusion that the proper value of the acquired lands shall be Rs. 45,000/- per acre. fast3183.11 4 4 I have perused the judgment and award passed by the reference court. I have also gone through the evidence, copies of which are made available by learned AGP while arguing the appeals. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, I do not find any merit in the appeals. Enhancement in the amount of compensation directed by the reference court is quite marginal. Considering the totality of circumstances, appeals presented by the State do not deserve favourable consideration. Appeals are therefore dismissed. 5 Pending civil application, if any, does not survive and stands disposed of. ( R. M. BORDE,J.) dyb