R.F.A. No. 3534 of 2008 [ 1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH R.F.A. No. 3534 of 2008 (O&M) Date of decision: 19.8.2010 Kuldeep Singh and others .. Appellants v. State of Haryana and others .. Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL Present: Mr. Deepak Balyan, Advocate for the appellants. Mr. Ashish Gupta, Assistant Advocate General, Haryana. Rajesh Bindal J. This order will dispose of R.F.A. Nos. 3534, 3566, 3981 to 3983 of 2008 and 1134 to 1143 of 2007, as common questions of law and facts are involved. The land owners are in appeal seeking further enhancement of compensation awarded by the learned court below for the acquired land. Briefly, the facts of the case are that land situated in villages Chitana and Butana Jafarabad, Tehsil and District Sonepat, was acquired by the Government of Haryana vide notification dated 16.8.2002 and 3.10.2002, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act') for the purpose of construction of Career Lined Channel. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, `the Collector') assessed the market value of the acquired land @ ` 2,00,000/- per acre. The land owners feeling dissatisfied with the quantum of compensation awarded by the Collector, filed objections. On reference under Section 18 of the Act, the learned court below upheld the award of the Collector. Learned counsel for the landowners submitted that the value of land, as has been assessed by the learned court below deserves to be enhanced further, considering the fact that it was prime land located quite close to Delhi Border. Though at the time of leading evidence in the court below, the relevant sale deeds could not be produced on record, however, before this court two sale deeds, i.e., R.F.A. No. 3534 of 2008 [ 2] Annexure P-1, registered on 12.5.1999, whereby 700 square yards of land was sold for a sum of ` 1,24,000/-, i.e., ` 8,57,371/- per acre and Annexure P-2, registered on 17.5.1999, whereby 300 square yards of land was sold for ` 54,000/-, i.e., ` 8,71,200/- per acre have been produced. Even if a small cut is applied on the value of land, as shown in the aforesaid sale deeds, the compensation payable to the land owners for the acquired land deserves to be increased further. As far as location of the land is concerned, it was submitted that the same was pertaining to the revenue estate of village Chitana. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State submitted that the only sale deed (Ex. P6) produced on record by the land owners before the learned court below was registered much after the issuance of notification under Section 4 of the Act, i.e., 6.6.2005, whereas the notifications under Section 4 of the Act were issued on 16.8.2002 and 3.10.2002. He further submitted that even the sale deeds produced on record by the land owners should not be considered, as there is no reason for permitting them to produce the same on record now by way of additional evidence. He further submitted that even otherwise, the sale deeds now sought to be produced by the land owners cannot be relied upon for the reason that the same pertained to small plots, which are located on road close to village abadi, whereas the acquired land was located adjoining to the existing Channel, which cannot be compared vis-a-vis location or on account of any other factor. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the relevant referred record. In my opinion, learned counsel for the State is right in submitting that the sale deeds, now sought to be produced by the land owners, should not be considered as those are not pertaining to the comparable pieces of land, being located on road close to the abadi of the village and pertaining to small plots. In the present case, vide different notifications issued at the same time, the land pertaining to 14 villages was acquired for the same purpose. Villages Chitana and Butana Jafarabad are located close to village Mahra. For the land pertaining to village Mahra, the Collector himself had awarded compensation @ ` 2,50,000/- per acre, which was upheld by this court vide judgment dated 27.4.2009 in R.F.A. No. 2815 of 2008 –Prem and others v. The State of Haryana and others. Considering the fact that the land pertaining to the aforesaid two villages is also located close to village Mahra and located on either side of the Channel, the land owners in the present set of appeals pertaining to land of villages Chitana and Butana Jafarabad are awarded compensation at the same rate. Accordingly, the impugned award of the learned court below is R.F.A. No. 3534 of 2008 [ 3] modified to the extent that compensation for the acquired land is determined @ ` 2,50,000/- per acre. The land owners shall also be entitled to all statutory benefits available to them under the Act. The appeals are disposed of in the manner indicated above. (Rajesh Bindal) Judge 19.8.2010 mk