RFA No. 3542 of 1993 (1) In the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh RFA No. 3542 of 1993 and Cross-objection No. 31/CI of 2011(O&M) Date of decision : 27.4.2011 The State of Punjab ..... Appellant vs Maggar Singh ..... Respondent Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Mr. Yatinder Sharma, Deputy Advocate General, Punjab. Mr. Vipin Mahajan, Advocate, for the respondents in RFA No. 3543 of 1992. Rajesh Bindal J. This order shall dispose of RFA No. 3542 to 3544 of 1993, Cross-objection Nos. 93/CI of 1994 and 31/CI of 2011, as common questions of law and facts are involved therein. State of Punjab is in appeal before this court against the award of the learned court below passed under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, 'the Act') seeking reduction of compensation awarded to the landowners for the acquired land and by filing cross-objections the landowners are seeking further enhancement thereof. Briefly, the facts of the case are that vide notification dated 16.10.1985 issued under Section 4 of the Act, the State of Punjab sought to acquire land situated within the revenue estate of Village Lakhmipur, Tehsil and District Ropar, for construction of Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, 'the Collector') assessed the fair value of the acquired land @ ` 70,200/- per acre for chahi, Rs. 50,000/- per acre for barani, ` 45,000/- per acre for banjar kadim and ` 40,000/- per acre for gair mumkin kind of land. Dissatisfied with the award of the Collector, the landowners filed objections. On reference RFA No. 3542 of 1993 (2) under Section 18 of the Act, the learned court below determined the market value of the acquired land on the basis of a settlement arrived at between the landowners and the then Chief Minister of Punjab, according to which the value of the acquired land was assessed @ ` 1,00,000/- per acre for chahi, ` 75,000/- per acre for barani, ` 65,000/- per acre for banjar kadim land, and ` 60,000/- per acre for gair mumkin land. It is against this award of the learned court below that both the parties are before this court. Since the market value of the acquired land was assessed by the learned court below on the basis of a settlement arrived at between the landowners and the State of Punjab, the appeals filed by the State are not maintainable. As, there is no independent evidence led by the appellants in support of their claim, no case for enhancement is made out. Accordingly, the appeals are dismissed. However, as no one has appeared for the cross-objectors, the Cross-objections are dismissed in default. 27.4.2011 (Rajesh Bindal) vs. Judge