Punjab-Haryana High Court
State Of Haryana And Another vs Ranjit Singh And Another on 13 January, 2009
Author: Rakesh Kumar Jain
Bench: Rakesh Kumar Jain
RFA No.2137 of 1991 -1-
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT
CHANDIGARH
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RFA No.2137 of 1991
Date of decision: 13.01.2009
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State of Haryana and another . . . . Appellant(s)
Vs.
Ranjit Singh and another . . . . Respondent(s)
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CORAM : HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE RAKESH KUMAR JAIN
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Present: Mr.Rajiv Kawatra, Sr. DAG, Haryana
for the appellant(s).
Mr.J.S. Thind, Advocate and
Mr.D.N. Ganeriwala, Advocate,
for the respondent(s).
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RAKESH KUMAR JAIN J.(ORAL)
By this judgment I shall be disposing of 13 Regular First Appeals bearing RFA Nos.2137 to 2149 of 1991 all filed by the State of Haryana against the award dated 18.4.1991 passed by the Additional District Judge, Sirsa, as identical question of law and facts are involved therein. The facts are being taken from RFA No.2137 of 1991.
In pursuance to the Haryana Government notification dated 11.11.1989 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (in short 'the Act') and published on 22.11.1989, followed by the notification of declaration dated 31.3.1989 issued under Section 6 of the Act and published in the Government Gazette on 18.4.1989, 6.40 acres of land in village Abholi H.B. No.138 Tehsil Rania, District Sirsa was acquired at public RFA No.2137 of 1991 -2- expense, for a public purpose, namely, for the construction of parallel channel right side along Northern Ghaggar Canal (for short 'NGC') from RD 2700 to RD 9500 taking off at Ottu Lake in District Sirsa.. The acquired land was classified as under:
Sr.No. Class of land Areas under acquisition acquired Kanal Marlas 1. Nehri 34 10 2. Gair Mumkin Rasta 6 10 3. Gair Mumkin Khal 17 2 Total 58 2 The District Revenue Officer-cum-Land Acquisition Collector, Sirsa vide his award dated 4.12.1989 for the year 1989- 1990 evaluated the acquired land @ Rs.34,000/- per acre.
The landowners, unsatisfied with the award of the collector, filed objections under Section 18 of the Act and claimed compensation @ Rs.1,70,000/- per acre. The Claim was contested by the State alleging that adequate compensation has already been awarded by the Collector which does not call for any further enhancement. Both the parties to the lis, led oral as well as documentary evidence, in support of their case. The learned reference Court vide impugned award dated 18.4.1991 assessed the market value of the acquired land @ Rs.1 lac per acre as on the date when the notification under Section 4 of the Act was issued, besides awarding compensation in terms of the provisions of the amended Act.
Mr.H.S. Hooda, Advocate General, Haryana assisted by Mr.Rajiv Kawatra, Sr. DAG, Haryana has vehemently contended that the learned reference Court had committed an error while relying upon the previous award Ex.P4 because that award RFA No.2137 of 1991 -3- pertains to acquisition of land for the construction of power house of 132 K.V. whereas in the present case the acquisition is for the purpose of constructing the canal and both the lands are distantly located.
Learned counsel for the appellant has also referred to the statement of RW3-Shri B.K. Tuteja, Sub Divisional Officer, Irrigation Department, Sirsa where he stated that NGC canal has been dug out on the Government land which was lying near the old canal and the land in question was acquired additionally for plantation and drainage etc. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record with their assistance.
The only grievance of the learned counsel for the appellant is in respect of the award Ex.P4 relied upon by the learned reference Court. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the said award. The facts in the case pertaining to award Ex.P4 are that vide notification issued under Section 4 of the Act on 27.4.1988 with a follow up notification of declaration issued under Section 6 of the Act, dated 13.6.1988, land measuring 11.75 acres was acquired, at the public expense, for the public purpose, namely, for the construction of 132 KV Sub Station at Rania.
Land measuring 3 kanals 14 marlas situated in village Abholi, Tehsil and District Sirsa was acquired for the said purpose. The Land Acquisition Collector awarded Rs.88,000/- per acre for Nehri and Rs.44000/- per acre for Barani and Gair-Mumkin land. However, the learned reference Court vide its award dated 8.2.1990 Ex.P4 enhanced the compensation to the tune of Rs.2 lac per acre.
RFA No.2137 of 1991 -4-
In the present case, the land has been acquired on 11.11.1989 vide notification issued under Section 4 of the Act after 1 years and 7 months of the acquisition of land which is subject matter of award Ex.P4 vide which land of same village Abholi has been acquired and learned reference Court has granted Rs.1 lac per acre to the landowners/claimants of village Abholi vide his award dated 18.4.1991.
The contention of the learned State counsel that an amount of compensation of Rs.2 lacs awarded vide Ex.P4 was for the land acquired for the public purpose, namely, for the construction of power house of 132 K.V. is of no consequence because in the present case, the learned reference Court had also slashed the value of the acquired land of the same village from Rs.2 lacs to Rs.1 lac though the notification issued under Section 4 of the Act, in the present case, is latter in time then the one issued under Section 4 of the Act, which was decided vide award Ex.P4.
Thus I do not find any error in the reasoning adopted by the learned reference Court in this regard. Therefore, I uphold the award of the learned reference Court. Consequently, the present appeals are found to be without any merit and are hereby dismissed without any order as to costs.
(RAKESH KUMAR JAIN)
JANUARY 13, 2009 JUDGE
vivek