Land Acquisition Act, 1894 – Compensation – Enhancement of – Document proximate to the date of notification, if can be considered as exemplar for determination of compensation: Held: Bona fide transaction of sale, if proximate to the land acquired and the date, in absence of any evidence that acquisition has not motivated the purchaser to pay a higher price on account of resultant improvement in development prospects, can be relied upon while determining the compensation – Exhibit 53 (the sale deed of an adjoining land, executed within a month from the date of notification of s.4 LAA, indicating the value at Rs.152.37/- per square metre) is accepted as exemplar – Purchaser of the land was not motivated to pay the higher price for execution of the said sale deed – Furthermore, even prior to the notification, the land was allotted at the rate of Rs.65/- per square metre [Exhibit 44, an allotment letter] – Said exemplar is also relevant to determine the fair and reasonable amount of compensation – Compensation as determined by the High Court at the rate of Rs.53/- per square metre is on the lower side – Mean of the exemplars Exhibits 44 and Exhibit 53 [i.e., (65 + 152.37) / 2] comes to Rs.108.68/- per square metre – Thus, compensation of the land be determined at the rate of Rs.107/- per square metre. [Paras 9, 11, 15, 16]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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