Land Acquisition: s.4 notification issued on 29.08.2005 – Award made under s.11 – Reference made at the instance of land owners for enhancement of compensation - Reference court by judgment dated 31.05.2014 assessed market value at Rs.1000 per square yard – Dissatisfied land owners filed appeals before High Court for enhancement of compensation – State accepted judgment dated 31.05.2014 – High Court allowed appeals filed by land owners and assessed the market value of acquired land at Rs.4173 per square yard – Both landowners as well as the State preferred appeals before this Court – By judgment dated 16.05.2018, this Court allowed the appeals preferred by the State and set aside the judgment passed by the High Court and remitted the matter to the High Court for fresh consideration – On remand, High Court remitted matter to Reference Court by observing that some sale instances/sale exemplars relied upon on behalf of the landowners were not taken into consideration by Reference Court – On remand, Reference Court assessed amount of compensation at Rs. 750/- per square yard – Landowners as well as the State filed appeals before High Court – By the impugned judgment, High Court dismissed landowners appeals and allowed the State’s appeals and restored the award passed by the Land Acquisition Collector and the amount of compensation reduced between Rs. 166/- per square yard to Rs. 200/- per square yard – Hence instant appeals by the original landowners – Held: It is not in dispute that so far as the State Government is concerned, the State did not challenge the common judgment dated 31.05.2014 passed by the Reference Court assessing the market value of the acquired land at Rs. 1,000/- per square yard and it was the landowners who preferred appeals before the High Court for enhancement of the amount of compensation – Nonfiling of the appeals by the State against the common judgment dated 31.05.2014 was also taken note of by this Court while disposing of the appeals by common judgment dated 16.05.2018 – Even otherwise, on a fair reading of the judgment and order dated 16.05.2018 passed by this Court and the subsequent order dated 28.08.2019 passed by the High Court, the matter was remanded to the Reference Court to consider the sale deeds for the purpose of enhancement of the amount of compensation, while considering the sale deeds relied upon by the landowners – In any case, once the judgment and order passed by the Reference Court dated 31.05.2014 determining the compensation at Rs. 1,000/- per square yard attained finality so far as the State is concerned, the landowners shall be entitled to the compensation at least at Rs. 1,000/- per square yard – Now so far as the submission on behalf of the original landowners to enhance the amount of compensation beyond Rs. 1,000/- per square yard is concerned, most of the sale deeds relied upon by the landowners were much prior to the date of s.4 notification (ranging between 1992 to 1994) – Some of the sale deeds were post s.4 notification – Only three to four sale deeds were nearer to s.4 notification – However, all those sale deeds were with respect to small area of lands and even the price is also at variance – Therefore, it was not safe to determine the compensation relying upon those sale deeds which are nearer to s.4 notification – The claimants/landowners entitled to compensation of the acquired land at least at Rs. 1,000/- per square yard.
Partly allowing the appeals, the Court
HELD: 1. The landowners shall be entitled to the compensation considering the market value of the acquired land at least at Rs. 1,000/- per square yard as per the earlier judgment and order dated 31.05.2014 passed by the Reference Court. It is not in dispute that so far as the State Government is concerned, the State did not challenge the common judgment and order dated 31.05.2014 passed by the Reference Court assessing the market value of the acquired land at Rs. 1,000/- per square yard and it was the landowners who preferred appeals before the High Court for enhancement of the amount of compensation. Non-filing of the appeals by the State against the common judgment and order dated 31.05.2014 was also taken note of by this Court while disposing of the appeals vide common judgment and order dated 16.05.2018. Even otherwise, on a fair reading of the judgment and order dated 16.05.2018 passed by this Court and the subsequent order dated 28.08.2019 passed by the High Court, the matter was remanded to the Reference Court to consider the sale deeds for the purpose of enhancement of the amount of compensation, while considering the sale deeds relied upon by the landowners. In any case, once the judgment and order passed by the Reference Court dated 31.05.2014 determining the compensation at Rs. 1,000/- per square yard attained finality so far as the State is concerned, the landowners shall be entitled to the compensation at least at Rs. 1,000/- per square yard. [Paras 5, 6][1089-B-F]
2. Now so far as the submission on behalf of the original landowners to enhance the amount of compensation beyond Rs. 1,000/- per square yard is concerned, most of the sale deeds relied upon by the landowners are much prior to the date of Section 4 notification (ranging between 1992 to 1994). Some of the sale deeds are post Section 4 notification. Only three to four sale deeds are nearer to Section 4 notification. However, all those sale deeds are with respect to small area of lands and even the price is also at variance. Therefore, it is not safe to determine the compensation relying upon those sale deeds which are nearer to Section 4 notification. The claimants/landowners shall be entitled to compensation of the acquired land at least at Rs. 1,000/- per square yard. [Paras 7, 8][1029-F-H; 1030-A-B]
Ashrafi and Others v. State of Haryana and Others (2013) 5 SCC 527 : [2013] 6 SCR 148 – referred to.
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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