R.F.A. No. 1755 of 2007 [1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH R.F.A. No. 1755 of 2007 (O&M) Date of decision: 9.11.2010 Satyender Singh and others .. Appellants v. State of Haryana and another .. Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL Present: Mr. R. A. Sheoran, Advocate for the land owners. Mr. Ashish Gupta, Assistant Advocate General, Haryana. ... Rajesh Bindal J. This order will dispose of R.F.A. Nos. 1755 to 1760,2419, 2420, 2762 to 2765 of 2007, as common questions of law and facts are involved. The land owners are in appeal seeking further enhancement of compensation for the acquired land. The facts have been extracted from R.F.A. No. 1755 of 2007. Briefly, the facts of the case are that vide notification dated 13.3.2000, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act'), State of Haryana acquired the land in question, situated in village Khatiwas, Tehsil Dadri, District Bhiwani for construction of Kamod Minor. The same was followed by notification dated 22.9.2000, issued under Section 6 of the Act. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, `the Collector') assessed the market value @ ` 1,10,000/- per acre for Nehri land; ` 90,000/- per acre for Chahi land; ` 70,000/- per acre for Barani land and ` 60,000/- per acre for Banjar Kadim land. Dissatisfied with the award of the Collector, the land owners filed objections. On reference under Section 18 of the Act, the learned court below upheld the award of the Collector. Learned counsel for the land owners submitted that in spite of sufficient evidence having been led on record, the learned court below has R.F.A. No. 1755 of 2007 [2] dismissed the land references. The land in question was valuable piece of land, which fact is event evident from the award of the Collector himself, whereby for the land acquired more than two years earlier, vide award dated 15.4.1998, he assessed the value ffor Nehri/Chahi kind of land @ ` 1,40,000/- per acre; ` 1,20,000/- per acre for Barani land and ` 1,00,000/- per acre for Banjar Kadim and Gair Mumkin kind of land. The notification under Section 4 of the Act in the present case was issued on 13.3.2000 and the value, as was assessed by the Collector, was even less than that. It was proved in the evidence that the land pertaining to the aforesaid award (Ex. PW7/A) is situated at a distance of about one kilometer from Kamod Minor, for which the land in question was acquired. The aforesaid award of the Collector can very well be relied upon while granting increase @ 12% per annum for the time gap in the two notifications. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State submitted that the award, which is sought to be relied upon by learned counsel for the land owners, has no relevance for the purpose of assessment of fair value of the acquired land in question considering the fact that the land pertaining thereto was located one kilometer away therefrom. Besides that, there was no relevant evidence produced on record by the land owners on the basis of which it could be opined that the award of the Collector calls for any interference. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the relevant referred record. It has been noticed by the learned court below in para 15 of the impugned award that the land pertaining to award (Ex. PW7/A) is located at a distance of about one kilometer. The land in the present case was acquired for the purpose of construction of Kamod Minor. A perusal of award (Ex. PW7/A) shows that notification under Section 4 of the Act in that case was issued on 1.5.1997 and the award was announced by the Collector on 15.4.1998 assessing the value of Nehri kind of land at ` 1,40,000/- per acre. In the aforesaid case, the land was also acquired for the purpose of construction of Leharwara minor, meaning thereby even the land pertaining thereto must be located inside the village. Considering the fact that there is a difference of about three years in the two notifications, the same can very well be considered for the purpose of assessment of fair value of the acquired land. However, I do not find any reason to award increase @ 12% per annum thereon, but find it reasonable to add ` 10,000/- per acre thereon as far as the value of Nehri/Chahi kind of land is concerned. Accordingly, the same is assessed @ ` 1,50,000/- per acre as against ` 1,10,000/- per acre. The value of Barani kind of land is assessed @ ` 1,30,000/- per acre and that of the Banjar R.F.A. No. 1755 of 2007 [3] Kadim and Gair Mumkin kind of land, the same is assessed @ ` 1,10,000/- per acre. The land owners shall also be entitled to all the statutory benefits available to them under the Act. The appeals are disposed of in the manner indicated above. (Rajesh Bindal) Judge 9.11.2010 mk