Jarnail Singh & Ors. v. The Punjab State & Anr.

Judgment

1. R.F.A. No. 208 of 2004 (O&M) Jarnail Singh and others The Punjab State and another

2. R.F.A. No. 339 of 2004 (O&M) Balwant Singh The Punjab State and another

3. R.F.A. No. 480 of 2004 (O&M) Karam Singh and others The Punjab State and another

4. R.F.A. No. 481 of 2004 (O&M) Jaspal Singh The Punjab State and another

5. R.F.A. No. 483 of 2004 (O&M) Chatin Kaur and others The Punjab State and another

6. R.F.A. No. 1559 of 2004 (O&M)

Smt. Gurnam Kaur and others The Punjab State and another .. Appellants .. Respondents .. Appellant .. Respondents .. Appellants .. Respondents .. Appellant .. Respondents .. Appellants .. Respondents .. Appellants .. Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal Present: Mr. Amit Aggarwal, Advocate for the land owners. None for the respondents. ... \ R.F.A. No. 208 of 2004 [ 2] 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 seeking further enhancement of compensation for the acquired land. The facts have been extracted from R.F.A. No. 208 of 2004. Briefly, the facts of the case are that the State of Punjab vide notification dated 3.5.1995 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, “the Act”), acquired 152 kanals and 4 marlas of land situated in village Maharaj Patti Karam Chand for Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant, Bhatinda. The same was followed by notification dated 15.9.1995, issued under Section 6 of the Act. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, `the Collector') determined the value of the land as under: Chahi Nehri Rs. 1,24,000/- per acre Rs. 84,459/- per acre Gairmumkin Rs. 3,20,000/- per acre Barani Rs. 46,264/- per acre The landowners/claimants 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 except for determining the market value of Barani kind of land @ Rs. 70,000/- per acre, upheld the award of the Collector. Learned counsel for the land owners submitted that the court below has failed to appreciate the material placed on record by the land owners justifying substantial increase in the value of land. The sale deeds produced on record have been totally ignored and even the earlier award of the learned court below pertaining to acquisition of land vide notification dated 4.8.1992 of the same village and for the same purpose has also been ignored. In fact, after the earlier acquisition in the area, the pace of development accelerated. The trend is even evident from the sale deeds produced on record, which show that prices of the land were sky ward. It cannot be disputed that once the development activities with the setting up of an important project, like Thermal Plant start, the area in the vicinity developes quite fast and the pressure on the land increases as lot of amenities are required to be provided there. He further submitted that the award of the learned court below pertaining to acquisition of land vide notification dated 4.8.1992 was subject-matter of appeal before this Court in R.F.A. No. 2292 of 2002 –Bant Singh and others v. The Punjab State and another, decided on 4.12.2008, whereby the R.F.A. No. 208 of 2004 [ 3] compensation for Nehri and Chahi kind of land was assessed at Rs. 95,000/- per acre and for Barani kind of land, the same was determined at Rs. 65,000/- per acre and the award pertaining to Gair Mumkin kind of land was upheld. Even in the absence of any material, still the land owners were entitled to increase @ 12% per annum thereon for the intervening period upto notification. He further submitted that the fact about the increase in the value of land in the area is event evident from the award of the Collector, if the same is compared vis-a-vis the award pertaining to the acquisition of land vide notification dated 4.8.1992. The award in the present case was almost double the rates. On a query by the Court as to whether the sale deeds produced by the land owners, as have been referred to in the impugned award, have been shown in any of the site plans produced by the land owners, the answer was in negative. No one has appeared for the respondents. Heard learned counsel for the appellants and perused the relevant referred record. A perusal of the evidence produced on record by the land owners shows that only two sale deeds (Ex. AB and Ex. AC) are pertaining to the land of village Maharaj Patti Karam Chand, whereas all other sale deeds pertain to other villages. Even the location of the land pertaining thereto has not been pointed out on any of the site plan produced on record to enable this Court to consider the location thereof visa-vis the acquired land. However, it was not disputed at the time of hearing that the land in question is not located on any of the road, rather, is located behind the Thermal Plant, which had already started coming up. The issue regarding valuation of land measuring 7929 kanals and 6 marlas of land pertaining to villages Lehra Saundha, Lehra Mohabbat, Lehra Dhulkot and Patti Karam Chand, acquired vide four different notifications issued in July and August, 1992 had come up before this Court in Bant Singh's case (supra). A perusal of the aforesaid judgment shows that after considering the material placed on record by the land owners, the value of Nehri and Chahi kind of land was determined at Rs. 95,000/- per acre, whereas Barani kind of land was assessed at Rs. 65,000/- per acre. The award of the learned court below in that case pertaining to Gair Mumkin kind of land was upheld. There is a gap of 33 months in the two acquisitions. From the material on record, it cannot be disputed that there was increasing trend in the prices of the land, as even the award of the Collector pertaining to Chahi, Nehri and Barani kind of land in the present case, if compared with the award for acquisition of land vide notification dated 4.8.1992, was almost at double rates. As far as Gair Mumkin kind of land is concerned, it was about five times. As the location of land in two sale deeds of village Maharaj R.F.A. No. 208 of 2004 [ 4] Patti Karam Chand dated 10.2.1994 and 2.2.1994 has not been pointed out on any of the site plan produced on record, it would not be safe to place reliance thereupon, considering the admitted fact on record to the extent that the land in question is not abutting any road, rather located behind the boundaries of Thermal Plant, which was coming up and the acquisition in the present case was for extension thereof, whereby small portion of 152 kanals and 4 marlas of land was being acquired. In the absence thereof, in my opinion, it would be safe to rely upon the earlier award pertaining to acquisition of land of the same village for the same purpose vide notification dated 4.8.1992. Considering the time gap in the two notifications being 33 months and there being sufficient material on record to reach to a conclusion that prices in the area were increasing, in my opinion, the land owners herein are entitled to increase thereon @ 12% per annum. 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 opined that in case the increase is to be granted to the the land owners for the period between the two notifications, the same has to be at cumulative rates. In the present case, from the facts on record, in my opinion, the same principle deserves to be applied. With the application thereof, taking the the value of Chahi and Nehri kind of land at Rs. 95,000/- per acre for the acquisition carried out on 4.8.1992 and adding 12% per annum thereon for 33 months, the amount of compensation payable to the land owners would come out to Rs. 1,29,893/-, which is rounded off to Rs. 1,30,000/- per acre. As far as Barani kind of land is concerned, the amount of compensation payable to the land owners would come out to Rs. 88,874/- per acre, which is rounded off to Rs. 89,000/- per acre. As far as Gair Mumkin kind of land is concerned, there is no specific material on record to suggest the valuation thereof. Even as per the award of the Collector, the area of Gair Mumkin kind of land is 7 kanals and 7 marlas. For the reasons mentioned above, the value of Chahi and Nehri kinds of acquired land is assessed at Rs. 1,30,000/-. The value of Barani kind of land is assessed at Rs. 89,000/- per acre. As far as Gair Mumkin kind of land is concerned, the award of the learned Reference Court is upheld. The appeals are disposed of in the manner indicated above. February 05 ,2010 (Rajesh Bindal) Judge R.F.A. No. 208 of 2004 [ 5]