Virender Singh v. The State of Haryana & Anr.

Smt. Sampooran Kaur and others Vs. State of Haryana and another .. Respondents (14) R.F.A. No. 2961 of 1994 (O&M) .. Appellants Godha Ram (deceased) through legal representatives Vs. State of Haryana and another .. Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL .. Appellant Present: Mr. Ram Chander, Advocate for the appellants in RFA Nos. 2777, 2778 and 2961 of 1994. Mr. Ashish Gupta, Assistant Advocate General, Haryana. Rajesh Bindal J. This order shall dispose of the above mentioned appeals, as the same arise out of a common acquisition. The land owners are in appeal against the award of the learned court below seeking enhancement of compensation for the acquired land. Briefly, the facts are that land measuring 33.22 acres bounded by Sector 14 of East Karnal City Shamsher Gate and Gurdawara on West, Mugal Canal (Sullage Drain) on North and Meerut Road and Ashok Nagar on South, situated in Karnal, was acquired vide notification dated 13.1.1981 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act') for the purpose of development of residential and commercial area in Sector 14 (Part II), Karnal. The same was followed by notification dated 12.12.1983, issued under Section 6 of the Act. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, `the Collector') awarded R.F.A. No. 2647 of 1994 [4] compensation @ Rs. 70,080/- per acre. Aggrieved against the same, the land owners filed objections which were referred to the learned Additional District Judge, Karnal, who keeping in view the material placed on record by the parties, determined the market value of the acquired @ Rs. 30/- per square yard. Learned counsel for the land owners submitted that the learned court below in the present case had determined the compensation for the acquired land relying upon the award pertaining to the acquisition of land for Sector 7, Urban Estate, Karnal, where the amount of compensation was assessed at Rs. 35/- per square yard and applying a cut thereon on account of the time gap in the notification and also some locational dis-advantage, for the acquisition of land in the present case, the value was determined at Rs. 30/- per square yard. He further submitted that the issue regarding determination of compensation for the land acquired for Sector 7 was subject-matter of appeal before this Court in the judgment, reported as Dr. Rajwant Singh (Died) through LRs v. State of Haryana, 2008(1) PLR 510, wherein the amount of compensation was further enhanced to Rs. 51/- per square yard. As the State in the present case was not aggrieved against the award of the learned court below, meaning thereby the reliance on the award pertaining to acquisition of land for Sector 7 is not in dispute. Considering the aforesaid facts, the land owners in the present case are entitled to increase on proportionate basis. Learned counsel for the State did not dispute the fact that no appeal was filed by the State regarding acquisition of land in the present case. It was further not disputed that the amount of compensation, as was determined by the court below, was further enhanced to Rs. 51/- per square yard in Dr. Rajwant Singh's case (supra). However, he submitted that the land in question did not have locational advantage as the land pertaining to Sector 7 had, as Sector 7 is abutting G.T. Road, whereas the land in question is close to Old Mugal Canal, which in fact is a drain. Site plan (Ex. R1) was referred to. It was further submitted that the closest Sector to Sector 14 (Part II), for which the land in question was acquired is Sector 14 (Part I), which is located just on the other side of Old Mugal Canal. The land for Sector 14 (Part I) was acquired vide notification dated 24.3.1977 and for the same, the compensation was assessed at Rs. 30/- per square yard, which attained finality. Even if reliance is to be placed upon, that would be the relevant award and not any other award, which is for the land located on other side of the G.T. Road. After hearing learned counsel for the parties, in my opinion, the land owners in the present case are entitled to some increase in the amount of R.F.A. No. 2647 of 1994 [5] compensation payable to them on account of acquisition of land. The learned court below had relied upon the award pertaining to acquisition of land for Sector 7, which was carried out vide notification dated 5.7.1982, wherein the amount of compensation was determined at Rs. 35/- per square yard. Though the learned court below had discussed that for the time gap, as the acquisition in the present case was 1-1/2 years earlier to the acquisition of land for Sector 7, some deduction could be made therefor. If the deduction is made out of the compensation assessed as payable for acquisition of land for Sector 7 out of Rs. 35/- per square yard, the same would come out to Rs. 28.70 per square yard, but the court below had assessed the compensation at Rs. 30/- per square yard. As to why the value was assessed at Rs. 30/- per square yard is not borne out from the record. It has not been discussed in the impugned award that the land in question had some locational advantage. As against that, learned counsel for the State had referred to the award pertaining to acquisition of land for Sector 14 (Part I), which is quite close in location as compared to land pertaining to Sector 14 (Part II), as both are located on either side of Old Mugal Canal. The only difference being that some part of Sector 14 (Part I) is abutting G.T. Road, whereas Sector 14 (Part II) is towards the existing Karnal city. As the acquisition for Sector 14 (Part I) was carried out vide notification dated 23.7.1977 and there is a time gap of 3-1/2 years therein, in my opinion, the land owners are entitled to increase thereon for the time gap. As the acquisitions pertained to late 70s and early 80s, increase @ 6% per annum, in my opinion, would be appropriate. However, considering the judgment of Hon'ble the Supreme Court in The General Manager, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. v. Rameshbhai Jivanbhai Patel and another, JT 2008(9) SC 480, increase is to be calculated on cumulative basis. The value of the land acquired for Sector 14 (Part I) having been determined at Rs. 30/- per square yard and there being time gap of 3-1/2 years, after making addition @ 6% per annum on cumulative basis, the value of the land acquired vide notification in question would come out to Rs.

36.80 per square yard, which is rounded off to Rs. 37/- per square yard. The land owners shall also be entitled to all statutory benefits available to them under the Act.

8.2.2010 The appeals are disposed of in the manner indicated above. (Rajesh Bindal) Judge R.F.A. No. 2647 of 1994 [6]