SATISH & Ors. v. STATE OF U.P & Ors.

3. The claimant made a claim of Rs.160/- per square yard in one bunch of cases and Rs.200/- per square yards in the other bunch. Before the District Judge, the first bunch of cases·, as many as 22 deeds of sale were taken into consideration. The question is as to whether the acquired land had any building potentiality. Upon consideration of various deeds of sale including the one c dated 31.5.1983 involving 192 per square yards, it was opined that the valuation thereof would be Rs.155/- per square yard. For arriving this figure, the Reference Judge took into consideration a circular letter issued by the State of Uttar Pradesh itself directing that the Land Acquisition Officers "that the highest sale deed should D be made as the basis for determination of the market value". However, in the second bunch of cases. while taking into consideration 25 deeds of sale, the Land Acquisition Judge took into consideration the deed of sale dated 3.9.1984 involving 50 yards of land wherefor the amount of compensation fixed was Rs~10,327/-, i.e., Rs.206.50 p. per square yard. In respect of the said sale deed an agreement was entered into by and between the parties in the year 1981 and not in 1983 as noticed by the High Court at 10% increase per year for a period of three F years, the Reference Judge held that the· flat rate would come to Rs.128 per square yard. From the ,-said amount, however, 30% was deducted as the lands in question were agricultural lands and on that basis the market value at the rate of Rs.55/- per square yard was found to G be sufficient. The High Court relied upon a deed of sale dated 27.7.1983 involving Khasra No.1354 and 1355 rejected the deed of sale deed 27.7.1982. Relying on a deed of sale dated 2.6.1983 in terms whereof 1 Biswas 9 BisWas in and 15 · Kachhwansi land pertaining to Khasra No.1054 and 1064 was sold for a sum of Rs.1,35,000/-, the E H )., y I.. l- .. 1 SATISH & ORS. v. STATE OF U.P. & ORS. 69 Land Acquisition Collector opined that the market value A of the land would come to Rs.1,81,512.60 p. per big ha, i.e., at the rate of 9.62 p. circle rate. The High Court, however, while rejecting all the other deeds of sale opined that reliance should be placed on the deed of sale dated 2.6.1983 in terms whereof the value of the land was B determined at Rs.58.11 p. per square yard. Opining, however, that the Special Land Acquisition Officer was not justified in reducing the compensation on the basis of fertility of the soil and the circle rate, the High Court upon adding 10% increase·to the said road held that the c net rate would come to Rs.63.92 p. per square yard, i.e., Rs.641- per square yard. It was furthermore held that the building potentiality would not be a relevant factor for calculating the market value of the land. Building potentiality of land is a relevant factor. National Thermal D Power Corporation intended to set up an industry. For the 1 said purpose, they had built up a large number. of offices quarters. [Paras 25 and 28] [85-8-E; 87-8] Hindustan Oil Mills Ltd. & Anr. v. Special Deputy Col/ector(Land Acquisition) AIR 1990 SC 731, referred to. E

4. Submission that market value of the land should not have been determined on square yard basis may not be entirely correct. Some of the landholders have very small holdings. Even the High Court determined the F valuation on that basis only. Most of the deeds of sale are in respect of small holdings. Even the deed of sale dated 2.6.1983 involves land measuring 1 Biswas, 9 Biswasin and 15 Kachhwansi. One Biswa is equal to 151.25 square yards; one Biswasi is equal to 7.5625 square yards; and one Kachwasi is equal to 0.378 square yards. Calculating in terms of square yards, it is about 224.98 square yards . The Reference Judge relied upon a deed of sale which involved transfer of 190 square yards. If the 1983 deed of sale is to be taken into consideration, there is no reason G H ~ -1 ., , y .J -I,_ r ; .. r I. 70 SUPREME COURT REPQRTS [2009] 11 S.C.R. A as to why the deed of sale dated 2.6.1983 whereupon the Reference Judge placed reljance was kept out of consideration. The High Court without any valid and adequate reason refused to take into consideration a large number of deeds of sale which were relevant for the B purpose of arriving at the amount of compensation upon taking into consideration the market value of the land: [Para 29] [87-C-E] ~ Rao Narain Singh (Dead) By Lrs. v. Union of India (1993) c 3 sec 63, referred to.

5. This case has some special features. The acquired lands although pertain to the administrative jurisdiction of Gaon Sabha, enough evidence was placed on record to show that the entire area is commonly known as D Murad pura area. On the one side of the road is Gaon. Sabha and on the other side of the road is the municipality. Assuming that that make some difference but then the difference is not such which would lead to a conclusion that the said factor should not be taken into E considerati?n at all. [Para 31) (88-0-E] Viluben Jhalenjar Contractor (Dead) by LRs. v. State of Gujarat (2005) 4 SCC 789, referred to. F into consideration

6. There may not be any quarrel with the proposition· that circulars of the State Government that highest sale deed should be determination of the fair market value of the land by itself may not be decisive insofar as the doctrine of compatibility by reason thereof would be given a G complete go by. But when comparable exemplars are brought on record, the one carrying the highest market value amongst them may be followed. Therefore, the determination of market value at the rate of Rs.115/- per square yard as arrived at by the High Court cannot be H \.- 1- • SATISH & ORS. v. STATE OF U.P. & ORS. 71 i held to be on a higher side. There was no reason for the A Reference Judge to determine the market value of the land in the other bunch of cases at the rate of Rs.155/- per square yard. The market value of the land of both the bunch of cases is determined at Rs.115/- per square yard. [Paras 32 and 33] (88-G-H; 89-A-C] B Case Law Reference: AIR 1990 SC 731 (1997) 10 sec 128 (2001) 3 sec 530 (1993) 3 sec 60 (2005) 4 sec 789 (1996) 6 sec 197 (1997) 10 sec 128 (2001) 3 sec 530 (2004) 8 sec 210 (1997) 6 sec 41 AIR 1990 SC 731 (1993) 3 sec 63 (2005) 4 sec 789 referred to referred to referred to referred to referr~d to referred to referred to referred to referred to referred to referred to referred to referred to CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No.' 6230-6251 of 2002. From the Judgment & Order dated 21.07.1999 of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in First Appeal Nos. 80, 81, 83, 85, 86, 88, 90, 91, 92, 94, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 111, 112, 114, 117, 120 and 126of1994. c D Para 10 Para 15 Para 15 Para 16 Para 16 Para 17 Para 17 Para 17 Para 18 E Para 18 Para 25 Para 30 Para 32 F G H -; 'y' ,..i If 72 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009) 11 S.C.R. A WITH C.A. No. 6300 of 2002. C.A. Nos. 6253-6299, 6301-6321 of 2002. B Raju Ramachandran, Kailash Vasudev, Ranjit Kumar, Rakesh Dwivedi, Geetanjali Mohan, Jamshed Bey, Parmanand Gaur, Ankur Saigal, Bina Gupta, Gaurav Singh Binu Tamta, Mukti Chowdhary, Shantanu Krishnan, R.K. Gupta, Manoj Kr. Dwivedi (for Gunnam Venkateswara Rao), Naresh K. Sharma, c Kamlendra Mishra (NP) and Ashok K. Srivastava(NP) for the Appearing Parties. r t- ~- The Judgment of the Court was delivered by S.S. SINHA, J. 1. These appeals, involving similar D questions of fact and law, were taken up for hearing together and are being disposed of by this common judgment. J,-

2. National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. is a Public Sector Undertaking and is engaged, inter alia, in generation E of electricity. With an intention to set up a thermal power plant at Sarna, Murad Nagar, District Ghaziabad in the State of Uttar Pradesh and nearby villages, a requisition was sent to the Collector of the District for the purpose of acquisition of some lands belonging to the appellant herein. Pursuant to or in furtherance of the said requisition and having regard to the fact that setting up of a thermal power plant was to be treated to be a public purpose within the meaning of provisions of the J_and Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter called and referred to for the sake of brevity as 'the Act'), the State of Uttar Pradesh (the State) on or about 6.9.1984 issued a notification in terms of Section 4 thereof. F G

3. The lands in question are situated in villages Sarna, Khurrar:npur, Sultanpur, Jalalpur and Mohiuddinpur. Herein, we are concerned with the lands situated in village Sarna only. H v )..__ ) SATISH & ORS. v. STATE OF U.P. & ORS. [S.S. SINHA, J.] 73 The said notification was published in the official Gazette A on 8.9.1984. Keeping in view the fact that generation of electricity was of urgent and imminent need, a notification under Section 6 read with Section 17(1) and 17(4) of the Act was also issued by the State on 26.9.1984. The said notification was .. published in the Gazette published by the State of Uttar B Pradesh on 29.9.1984.

4. Notices were issued to the claimants for settlement of their claims in terms of Section 9 of the Act on 27 .10.1984. 80% of the amount of compensation, as provided for under C Section 17(3A) of the Act, as determined, was also paid to the appellants by way of advance. Possession of the said lands in question was taken on

16.11.1984. The Collector made an award on or about 24.9.1986. The lands in question were classified in two categories, namely, 'Dakar Doyat Khaki' and 'Dakar Doyat Aabi' purported to be having regard to the nature thereof as also the extent of fertility. D E Before the Collector, a large number of sale deeds in respect of the lands situated in the said village and/or neighbouring village were produced. A large number of sale deeds were kept outside the purview of considera.tion by the F Land Acquisition Collector for the purpose of making the award on the premise that the consideration therefor had been paid in terms of square yards of land and, thus, the rate would be on higher side.

5. The Collector took into consideration 29 deeds of sale G in respect of the areas which were within the Murad Nagar Municipality on the premise that they were more useful and the rate being on the higher side, the same should also be kept out of consideration; H 74 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 11 S.C.R. A He took into consideration only five deeds of sale being No.34, 254, 480, 629 and 635. Out of the said five sale deeds, three deeds of sale being No.480, 629 and 635 were again kept outside the purview of consideration having regard to the distance factor as also the fact that the lands under the said B · deeds were situated on the other side of the village. So far. as sale deed No:34 is concerned, the Collector was of the opinion that the amount of consideration stated therein was deliberately kept low to avoid stamp duty. c 6

6. He took into consideration a deed of sale which was executed on 27.7.1982, i.e., two years prior to the issuance of notification under Section 4 of the Act being sale deed No.254 in respect of Khasra No.1354 and 1355.

7. Yet again, on the premise that the lands were very close to the area of municipality and it was sold at a very low rate, the same also had not been taken into consideration. The only .deed of sale which was, thus, considered for the purpose of determination of the amount of compensation was sale deed No.423. It was executed on 2.6.1983. The land transferred by reason thereof admeasured 1 Biswas, 9 Biswansi and 15 Kachhwansi pertaining to Khasra No .1054 and 1064. The amount of consideration for the said lands was shown as Rs.13,500/-, wrongly stated in the award as Rs.1,35,000/-. Inter alia, on the premise· that the deed of sale was executed in respect of a piece of land which was situated outside the municipal area, the market value therefor was calculated at Rs.1,81,512.60 per bigha, the circle rate wherefor was to be Rs.9.62 p. Although it was held that the lands under the said deed were similar to the acquired lands but according to the Collector, the circle rate should be determined for 'Dakar Doyat Khaki lands at Rs.3.19p. and for 'Dakar Doyat Aabi' lands at Rs.4.37 p., the amount of compensation on the said basis was determined as Rs.60, 189. 72 p. per big ha for the former category and Rs.82,454.20 p. per bigha 'for the latter. The amount of compensation for the land in question was D E F G H '),. I>- )- + ..,. " \._,,... SATISH & ORS. v. STATE OF U.P. & ORS. [S.B. SINHA, J.] 75 i determined at Rs.64,59,429.63 p. on that basis. Over and above the said amount of compensation, other. sums as were admissible in law were also granted which is in the following term : I "1. Amount of Compensation Rs.64,59,429.63

4. House, tree etc. Rs.21,005.00 30% Solatium Rs.19,44, 130.39 12% additional from 8.9.84 i.e. from the date of notification till the date of possession i.e. on 16.11.84 Rs. 1,46,531.69 A B c

5. Amount of Interest Rs. 4,10,740.06 D Total: Rs.89,81,836.77"

8. Appellants filed applications before the Collector for reference to the District Judge in terms of Section 18 of the Act. Reference Cases were considered by the Reference Court E in two bunches, i.e., (1) Baljit's Bunch; and (2) Kanti's Bunch.

9. In the first group consisting of 22 cases, compensation at the rate of Rs.115/- per square yards was awarded as market value of the acquired land irrespective of quality of land recorded in the revenue record. In the second group of references consisting of 25 cases, however, the amount of compensation was determined at the rate of Rs.155/-· per square yard. I F

10. In the first award upon consideration of the oral G evidence adduced by the parties, it was opined : "Thus, from this statement it is clear that village Sarna and town Murad Nagar are not distinguishable." H "' ('. I ~ _., ( ~ ;,/ 76 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 11 S;C.R. A It was furthermore held that in view of the fact that Muradnagar is situated on one side of the road and village Sarna is situated on the other, the administrative distinction that whereas village Sarna was administratively being controlled by Gaon Sabha and Muradnagar was being administratively B controlled by Nagar Palika (Municipalty) was held to be not a relevant factor. With regard to the categorization. of land, it was held: "Keeping this situation in mind, the.belting system even on the basis of quality of land will be relevant. In Indra Singh & Ors. V. Union of India [JT 1993 SC page 653], D.B. Belting system under these circumstances has been proper. But in the present case there is no such evidence from the side of the State or NTPC that some land is likely to be used as commercial complex on the best quality." c ·D . The. learned Judge, having regard to the Khasra records and maps opined that Sarna-Muradnagar is a composite name written on all the revenue papers and, thus, the acquired land must be treated to be an adjoining land covered by the sale E deed dated 31.5.1983 in terms whereof the market rate was worked out to be Rs.155/- per square yard. For determining the amount of compensation, however, although, the reference court referred to a decision of this Court. in Hindustan Oil Mills Ltd. v. Special Deputy Collector (Land Acquisition) [AIR 1990 F SC 731] stating that the value of tlie land doubles in five years but opined that increase at the rate of 10% per year only should be allowed. The rate, therefore, according to the learned Judge, could be calculated at the rate of Rs.170/- per square y~rd. However, having regard to the fact that the said sale deed related to a small area, a deduction of 30% was made therefrom in terms whereof the ar:nount of compensation came to Rs.119/- per square yard. It is on that basis that the compensation at the rate of Rs.115/- per square yard was G arrived at. ·H

11.. In the second reference, however, the learned Judge .;- .,. .. ,. ~, ).. 78 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 11 S.C.R. A B c D E F G H failed to take into consideration that even the sale deed dated .2.6.1983 was in respect of 1 Bigha, 9 biswansi and 15. Kachhwansi of land which would come to Rs.331/- per square ya .. d and there is no reason as to why the sale deed in respect of 190 square yards of land could not have been taken into consideration as both the said deeds involved transfer of small portions of land. (2) The amount of compensation must be determined on the concept of a value which a free seller would receive from, a free buyer and in that view of the matter as some of the !and owners have small holdings, there was absolutely no reason as to why botih the deeds of sale could not have been taken into consideration' for the purpose of arriving at a correct amount of compensation. (3) The fact that the High Court itself granted compensation in respect of the lands on square yards basis, it could not have upheld the awards of the Collector as it had rejected the said method. (4) The High Court could not have refused to consider the deed of sale only relying on or on the basis of the decision of this Court in A.P. State Road Transport Corporation, Hyderabad, represented by Managing Director v. P. Venkaiah & Ors. [(1997) 10 sec 128] as the said judgment was overruled by this Court in Land Acquisition Officer & Manda/ Revenue Officer v. V. Narasaiah [(2001) 3 SCC 530] which view was reiterated in Cement Corporation of India Ltd. v. Purya & Ors. [(2004) 8 SCC 270]. Refusal on the part of the courts below to consider the deeds of sale produced before the Collector and consequentially before the High Court cannot be held to be correct in view of Section 51 A of the Land Acquisition Act and Section 90A of the t ':I " ~ ' ~ " ' ..... SATISH & ORS. v. STATE OF U.P. & ORS. [S.B. SINHA, J.] 79 Indian Evidence Act as amer.ded by the State of A Uttar Pradesh. (5) The directives issued by the State of Uttar Pradesh that the sale deed involving the highest consideration should be taken into consideration having not been followed by the Collector, he must be held to be guilty of administrative discipline. The sale deed of the year 1983 having admittedly been executed in terms of an agreement for sale executed in the year 1981, the amount of consideration should have been enhanced keeping C in view the development of land which was expected in three years and not one year. 8

16. Mr. Rakesh Dwivedi, learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent, on the other hand, supported the D judgment of the High Court contending : (1) the High Court has rightly relied upon the sale deed dated 3.5.1984 in view of the fact that the consideration mentioned therein took into E ----consideration all relevant criterias including Its building potentiality as has been held by this Court in Rao Narain Singh (Dead) by LRs. V. Union of India [(1993) 3 sec 60]. (2) The Reference Court having committed a serious F error in relying upon the deeds of sale which had been rejected by the Collector as no reason in support thereof was assigned, the High Court has rightly placed reliance on the said deed of sale, particularly, where some amount of guess work in G fixing the quantum of compensation is legally .permissible as has been held by this. Court in Viluben Jha/ejar Contractor (Dead) by LRs. V. State of Gujarat [(2005) 4 SCC 789]. H 80 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 11 S.C.R. A B c D E (3) The land under acquisition being within the administrative jurisdi~tion of Gaon Sabha, the same could not have been considered to be similarly situated as the lands within a municipal area for the purpose of arriving at the mar:ket value of the acquired lands. (4) The administrative circular issued by the State of . Uttar Pradesh would be applicable only when the reliance is placed on a sale deed which is comparable with the lands under acquisition and not otherwise. (5) The judgment of the reference court must be held to be suffering from a legal infirmity as in two different awards, two different yardsticks for calculating the amount of compensation, namely, Rs.115/- per square yard and Rs.155/- per square yard respectively had been taken in two different bunch of cases.

17. At the outset, it must be noticed that the learned Reference Judge as also the High Court refused to take into . consideration a· large number of deeds of sale relying on.or on the basis of a decision of this Court i.n P. Venkaiah (supra). Section 51A of the Land Acquisition Act construction of F which fell for consideration before this Court therein reads as under: "51A Acqeptance of certified copy as evidence.-:-ln any proceeding under this Act, a certified copy of a document registered under the Registration Act, 1908 (16 of 1908), including a copy given under section 57 of that Act, may be accepted as evidence of the transaction recorded in such document." This Court in .P. Venkaiah (supra) opined that in absence G H ,,. I ' 'I .., ),> ,) SATISH & ORS. v. STATE OF U.P. & ORS. [S.B. SINHA, J.] 81 i ""/' of any evidence adduced on behalf of the claimants that the A amount of consideration mentioned in respect of deeds of sale are correct either by examining the vendor or the vendee, the documents per se cannot be relied upon.