IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PIUS C.KURIAKOSE & THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.Q.BARKATH ALI FRIDAY, THE 7TH AUGUST 2009 / 16TH SRAVANA 1931 LA.App..No. 1270 of 2005(Y) --------------------------- LAR.36/2001 of SUB COURT, HOSDRUG .................... APPELLANT(S): IN LAA:-RES.2 IN LAR ---------------------------------- THE SECRETARY, KODOM BELUR GRAMA PANCHAYAT, ATTENGANAM PO, ANANDASRAM, KASARAGOD DISTRICT. BY ADV. SRI.S.V.BALAKRISHNA IYER, SENIOR ADVOCATE RESPONDENT 1 IN LAA-REFERRING OFFICER & RESPONDENT NO.2 IN LAA-CLAIMANT ------------------------------------------- 1. THE SPECIAL TAHSILDAR(LA) KASARAGOD. 2. T.V.KRISHNAN, S/O.M.RAMAN, ODAYANCHAL, BELUR VILLAGE, HOSDRUG TALUK. ADV. SRI.K.RAJEEVAN FOR R2 GOVERNMENT PLEADER SMT.SUMANGALA P.N.FOR R1 SRI.SURESH KUMAR KODOTH FOR R2 THIS LAND ACQUISITION APPEAL HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 07/08/2009, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: PIUS C.KURIAKOSE & P.Q.BARKATH ALI, JJ. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - L.A.A.No.1270 OF 2005 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dated this the 7th day of August, 2009 JUDGMENT Barkath Ali, J. This appeal under Section 54 of Land Acquisition Act is filed by the requisitioning authority challenging the judgment of the Sub Court, Hosdurg in L.A.R.No.36/2001 awarding enhancement of land value. 2. An extent of 1 Acre ( 0.4047 Hectares) of land in R.S.No.408/385 of Belur village was acquired for the construction of a bus stand-cum-shopping complex for the Kodom Belur Grama Panchayat. The Section 4(1) notification was published on July 28, 1998. The Land Acquisition Officer fixed the land value at Rs. 1151.80/- per cent . Including the value of improvements, total compensation awarded was Rs. 9,10,240/-. Dissatisfied with the compensation awarded, the claimants sought for a reference under Section 18 of the Act. The reference court on the basis of Exts.A1 and A2 sale deeds, fixed the land value at Rs. 20,000/- per cent. The requisitioning authority, which is Belur Grama Panchayat has come up in appeal challenging the said enhancement. LAA.No.1270/05 2 3. The point which arises for consideration is whether enhancement of land value granted by the reference court is excessive. Sri.S.V.Balakrishna Iyer, learned senior counsel appearing for the appellant filed I.A.No.3785/09 to receive 8 documents. The average land value shown in all these documents comes to about Rs. 2,000/- per cent. On the other hand, Ext.A1 document is dated 4-10-1999 much after publication of Section 4(1) notification and Ext.A2 is dated 26-03-1997. Sri. S.V.Balakrishna Iyer, learned senior counsel for the appellant has pointed out that the Panchayat has decided to acquire this property as early as on 8/1/1996 and that Exts.A1 and A2 came into existence much thereafter and that therefore, those documents should not be relied on. There is much force in the above contention. We also feel that enhancement granted by the reference court relying on Exts.A1 and A2 is excessive. 4. The learned counsel for the claimant/respondent argued that the property is situated in a junction and that therefore the enhancement granted by the reference court is reasonable. Learned counsel argued that in a subsequent reference, all these documents were produced and relying on those documents, the reference court has granted LAA.No.1270/05 3 enhancement at the same rate. This is disputed by Sri.S.V.Balakrishna Iyer, learned senior counsel for the requisitioning authority. As stated earlier we feel that the enhancement granted by the reference court is excessive. Sri.Balakrishna Iyer , learned senior counsel for the requisitioning authority submitted that the matter may be remanded to the reference court so that he can produce all the documents there and adduce further evidence. His request appears to be reasonable. There is also another aspect. The Secretary of Panchayat has filed I.A.No.396/2005 before the reference court to adjourn the trial to some other date on the ground that he has some urgent official conference on the day when the case was posted. The said application was dismissed by the reference court. However, we feel that an opportunity should be given to the requisitioning authority to produce all the above documents before the reference court and to prove their case. 5. In the result, the appeal is allowed by way of remand. The judgment of the reference court in L.A.R.No.36/2001 dated 14th June 2005 of Sub Court, Hosdurg is hereby set aside. The case is remanded to the reference court for fresh disposal on the basis of the evidence already on record and further evidence which the parties may adduce LAA.No.1270/05 4 before the trial court. The documents produced by the appellant shall be returned to him and he can produce it before the reference court. The claimant is also entitled to adduce further evidence, if any. This being a case of 2001, the reference court shall dispose of it as early as possible , but not later than six months from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment. Refund the full court fee to the learned counsel for the appellant. No order as to costs. It is seen from the last portion of the judgment of the reference court that the enhanced compensation is deducted from the total compensation instead of deducting it from the land value. Since we are remanding the matter to the reference court, there is no question of correcting the said mistake. While passing revised judgment and decree, the learned Subordinate judge will take this aspect of the matter into account. Parties shall appear before the reference court on 07/09/2009. PIUS C.KURIAKOSE JUDGE P.Q.BARKATH ALI JUDGE sv. LAA.No.1270/05 5