Nelson Fernandes And Ors vs Special Land Acquisition ...

The above appeal was filed against the final judgment and order dated 01.03.2005 passed by the Division Bench of the Bombay High Court at Goa in First Appeal Nos. 66 of 2002 and 75 of 2002 arising out of Land Acquisition Case No. 58 of 1996 wherein the Division Bench rejected the claim of compensation of the appellants for acquisition of the land belonging to them of Rs.750/- per sq. metre and reduced the rate of compensation from Rs.192/- per sq. metre as awarded by the District Judge to Rs.38/- per sq. metre after re- appraising the evidence and substituting their own finding of facts in place of the findings of the District Judge.

In the above case, notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter called the 'Act' for short) was published by the Special Land Acquisition Officer South Goa for acquisition of land for construction of new BG line for the Konkan Railways. The notification was published in the local dailies on 5th and 6th August, 1994. Under Section 6 of the Act a declaration stating the government's intention to acquire the land for the purpose of construction of new broad gauge line of the Konkan Railways between Roha and Mangalore was made on 09.11.1994. An award was passed by the Special Land Acquisition Officer granting compensation to the appellant @ Rs.4/- per sq. metre and Rs.59,192/- for trees standing on the said land. The appellant on 06.12.1996 made an application before the Land Acquisition Officer to refer the matter for determination of compensation under Section 18 of the Act and claimed a sum of Rs.89,06,250/- for the acquired land and Rs.71,000/- for the trees standing thereon. Reference under Section 18 was made by the Special Land Acquisition Officer to District and Sessions Judge on 28.02.1996 and reference under Section 19 of the Act was made by the Special Land Acquisition Officer, Margao. Evidence was adduced by the appellant - Mr. Nelson Fernandes before the Addl. District Judge. Two sale deeds dated 13.12.1993 are annexed and marked as Annexure-P5. Evidence was adduced by Government Approved Valuer - Pratima Kumar on the valuation report submitted by her before the Addl. District Judge, Margao on 15.12.2000. Evidence was adduced by Bartoleuma Gama on the sale of land by him @ Rs. 449/- per sq. metre by sale deed being Ex.AW1/B was annexed and marked as Annexure-P7.

The Addl. District Judge passed an award increasing the rate of compensation from Rs. 4/- per sq. metre to Rs.192/- per sq. metre, but did not give any compensation for the trees standing on the said land. First Appeal Nos. 66 and 75 of 2002 were preferred by both the appellants and the respondents before the High Court against the judgment and award dated 29.08.2001 of the learned District Judge.

First Appeal Nos. 66 of 2002 and 75 of 2002 were disposed of by the Division Bench of the High Court by rejecting the appeal of the appellants and allowing the appeal of the respondents. The Division Bench rejected the report of the valuer and the findings of the District Judge and reduced the rate of compensation from Rs. 192/- per sq. metre as awarded by the District Judge to Rs. 38/- per sq. metre. Hence the above appeal.

The above appeal was filed against the final judgment and order dated 09.03.2005 passed by the Division Bench of the Bombay High Court at Goa in First Appeal Nos. 63 and 67 of 2002 arising out of Land Acquisition Case No. 391 of 1995 wherein the Division Bench rejected the claim of compensation of the appellants for acquisition of the land belonging to them of Rs.470/- per sq. metre and reduced the rate of compensation from Rs.108/- per sq. metre as awarded by the District Judge to Rs.27/- per sq. metre after re- appraising the evidence and substituting their own finding of facts in place of the findings of the District Judge.

In the above case, notification under Section 4 of the Act was published by the Special Land Acquisition Officer, for acquisition of land for construction of new BG line for the Konkan Railways. The notification was published in the local dailies. Declaration was made on 16.06.1992 and award was passed on 24.01.1995 granting compensation to the appellant @ Rs. 4/- per sq. metre and Rs.82,282/- for trees standing on the land. The appellant on 27.03.1995 made an application before the Land Acquisition Officer to refer the matter for determination of compensation under Section 18 of the Act and claimed a sum of Rs. 470/- per sq. metre for the acquired land and in support of their contention relied on 3 sale deeds of adjoining plots, one award and a report of a valuer. Reference under Section 18 was made by the Special Land Acquisition Officer to the District and Sessions Judge on 06.09.1995. Evidence was adduced by the appellant before the District Judge on 30.02.1999 and 24.09.1999. Evidence was adduced by Government Approved Valuer - Pratima Kumar on the valuation report submitted by her before the Addl. District Judge, Margao on 15.12.2000. Evidence was adduced by Antonio Rosario Rodrigues on the purchase of land by him at Rs. 480/- per sq. metre by sale deed being Ex.AW1/F was marked as Annexure-P7. Likewise, evidence adduced by Maria Piea Carvalho on the purchase of land by her at Rs.200/- per sq. metre by sale deed being AW1/E was marked as Annexure-P8.

The Addl. District Judge passed an award increasing the rate of compensation from Rs.4/- to Rs.108/- per sq. metre but did not give any compensation for the trees standing on the said land. First Appeal No. 67 of 2002 was preferred by the appellants and 63 of 2002 was preferred by the respondents before the Bombay High Court at Goa against the judgment and award dated 29.08.2001 of the District Judge. Both the appeals were disposed of by the Division Bench by rejecting the appeal of the appellants and allowing the appeal of the respondents. The Division Bench rejected the report of the valuer and the findings of the District Judge and reduced the rate of compensation from Rs. 108/- per sq. metre as awarded by the District Judge to Rs. 27/- per sq. metre. Hence the above appeal.

CIVIL APPEAL NO. OF 2007 (Arising Out of SLP (C) NOS. 16503-16504 OF 2005) In this case, the LAO awarded compensation to the appellant @ Rs 4/- per sq. mtr. and Rs.82,282/- for trees standing on the said land. The appellants claimed a sum of Rs. 470/- per sq. mtr. for the acquired land and in support of their contention relied on 3 sale deeds of adjoining plots, one award and a report of a valuer. The District Judge in accordance with the rate of compensation from Rs.4/- to Rs.108/- but did not give any compensation for the trees standing on the land. In the first appeal preferred by the appellant and the appeal preferred by the respondents, the High Court against the judgment and award dated 29.08.2001 of the District Judge rejected the appeal of the appellants and allowed the appeal of the respondents. The Division Bench rejected the report of the valuer and findings of the District Judge and reduced the rate of compensation from Rs. 108/- as awarded by the learned District Judge to Rs. 27/-. This case also stands on the same footing as that of the other appellant in SLP (C) Nos. 16533-16534 of 2005. Therefore, they are also entitled to compensation on par with the other appeal. In this case, the appellant adduced two sale deeds AW1F and AW1E on the purchase of land by him at Rs. 480 per sq. mtr. and Rs. 200 per sq. mtr. respectively. The Government valued approver also submitted his report and also deposed before the Court. The land in question is also acquired for the same purpose. Therefore, the appellant in this case is also entitled to the same compensation at Rs. 250/- per sq. mtr. with deduction of 20%. The appellant will be entitled to compensation for the trees standing thereon at Rs. 82,232/- as justified by the L.A.O. The appellant will also entitled to all the other statutory benefits such as solatium, interest etc. Both the appeals are ordered accordingly. Since the acquisition was made under Section 4(1) notification and the matter was pending from the year 1996 the appellant shall be entitled for payment of compensation now fixed by this Court together with solatium, interest and other statutory benefits as permissible under law and that the compensation and other payment shall be made within 3 months from today after adjusting the payments which have already been made. No costs.

In the instant case, taking the average of both the sale deeds Ex. AW 1/B and AW 1/C the District Judge made a deduction @ 33% for the development charges and on deduction of 33% from Rs. 250/- per sq. metre the actual price of the acquired land would be approximately Rs. 192/- per sq. metre which, according to the opinion of the District Judge would be reasonable for the acquired land. By holding so, he passed the following Award.