Delhi High Court
A.N. Chopra, K.N. Chopra And R.N. Chopra vs Union Of India And Ors. on 26 August, 1994
Equivalent citations: 1994IIIAD(DELHI)1369, 1994(31)DRJ27
Author: D.P. Wadhwa
Bench: D.P. Wadhwa, Cyriac Joseph
JUDGMENT D.P. Wadhwa, J.
(1) This judgment will dispose of three appeals bearing R.F.A. No. 438/68 (appellant - A.N. Chopra), R.F.A. No. 439/68 (appellant - K.N.Chopra) and R.F.A. No. 440/68 (appellant - Lt. Col. R.N.Chopra) filed under section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short 'the Act') against the judgment dated 25 July 1968 of the learned Additional District Judge on a reference made to him under section 18 of the Act.
(2) The village is Jamarudpur and purpose of acquisition is planned development of Delhi. A notification under section 4 of the Act was issued on 24 October 1961 acquiring certain land in the village which included the land of the appellants in three appeals. A declaration under section 6 was issued on 4 February 1964 and the Award No. 1770 was made on 16 January 1965/ 9 February 1965. The Land Acquisition Collector fixed the market value of the land at Rs.4,000.00 per bigha. By the impugned judgment the learned Additional District Judge fixed the market value at Rs.l3,000.00 per bigha. Aggrieved by this judgment the appellants have appealed to this Court.
(3) By three different sale deeds dated 7 July 1960 the appellants purchased their respective lands subject-matter of acquisition proceedings at the rate of Rs.10,000.00 per bigha. The notification under section 4 of the Act was issued after about one year and three months of the purchase of the land by the appellants.
(4) Mr. Vashisht, learned counsel for the appellants, submitted that at the time when these appeals were filed the claim made was that the market value should be fixed at Rs.25,000.00 per bigha. Then an application was filed under Order 6 Rule 17 and section 151 of the Code praying that the market value of the land be fixed at Rs.50,000.00 per bigha. No orders have been passed on this application and it was directed that it would be heard along with the appeal.
(5) Under section 23 of the Act, the compensation to be awarded of the land acquired under the Act is to be determined taking into consideration the market value of the land at the date of the publication of the notification under section 4 of the Act. There is no sale deed of this date respecting any land in the village Jamarudpur on record. However, we were referred to some sale deeds of different plots in the developed colony known as Kailash Colony. We may refer to these sale deeds. In some of the sale deeds it is mentioned that Kailash Colony is situated on village Jamarudpur and in some in village Yaqutpur. Both the villages are perhaps adjacent to each other. Exhibit A-7 is the sale deed dated 24 March 1961 of a plot of land measuring 500 sq. yards which was sold for a consideration of Rs.25,000.00 , Ext. A-8 is the sale deed dated 10 October 1961 for Rs.20,346.00 for a plot of land measuring 444.26 sq. yards, Ext. A-9 is sale deed dated 7 February 1961 for Rs.23,000.00 for a plot of land measuring 452 sq. yards, and Ext. A-13 is the sale deed dated 24 September 1960 for Rs.17,500.00 for a plot of land measuring 500.5 sq. yds.
(6) Mr. Vashisht referred to a decision of a Bench of the Punjab High Court (Circuit Bench 'Delhi') in M/s. D.L.F. Housing and Construction (P) Ltd v. Union of India, , to contend that we should look into the sale deeds Ext. A-7, A-8, A-9 and A-13 to fix the market value of the land in question and that in view of the law laid by this Court and also by the Supreme Court, l/3rd of the cost towards development be deducted to arrive at the market value of the land. We do not think this argument is sound. Let us take the sale deed Ext. A-13 which was executed on 24 September 1960. The cost of plot of land under that sale deed would be Rs.35.00 per square yard, and if we deduct l/3rd of the cost towards development charges to arrive at the market value of the land in question it would be Rs.23.00 per sq. yard. Now by the sale deeds in question the appellants purchased the land on 7 July 1960 at the rate of Rs.10.00 per square yard. Could it be that within two months, i.e., by 24 September 1960, the cost would escalate to Rs.20.00 per square yard. No evidence has come on record as to what further development or improvement, if any, was done on the land after it was purchased by the appellants. The judgment in D.L.F. Housing and Construction is, therefore, inapplicable to the facts of the present case. It is a matter of common knowledge that it was only in late 1980s that the prices of the immovable properties in Delhi escalated. The learned Additional District Judge had fixed the market value of the land giving 30% escalation over a period of one year and three months. We find his judgment is well considered and has taken into account all the relevant factors in arriving at the market value of the land. He in fact visited the location of the land and saw the area and inspected the spot. He did observe that the land had good location and it was situated between two developed colonies of Kailash Colony and Greater Kailash I. He, therefore, enhanced the compensation payable to the appellants by Rs.9,000.00 per bigha to arrive at the market value of the land at Rs.13,000.00 per bigha. The learned Additional District Judge also commented on the award whereby the value of the land had been fixed at Rs.4,000.00 per bigha when the sale deed itself was for Rs.10,000.00 per bigha. The principle of law. is also well settled that where there will be no sale deed available around the period when notification under section 4 of the Act was issued, then the cost of the land would be increased by rupee 1 per square yard for every year.
(7) We are, therefore, of the opinion that the learned Additional District Judge arrived at the correct market value of the land in question and the impugned judgment does not call for any interference. These appeals are, therefore, dismissed. Since the respondents were not represented, there will be no order as to costs.