Delhi District Court
Shri Ram Dutt vs Union Of India on 23 October, 2013
IN THE COURT OF SH. ALOK AGARWAL, ADDITIONAL DISTRICT JUDGE:
DWARKA COURTS: NEW DELHI.
LAC. No. 68/11
Village : Dichaon Kalan
Award No. : 10/0809
Date of Award : 30.12.2008
In the matter of:
Shri Ram Dutt
S/o Sh. Ram Richpal
R/o C. & P.O. Dichaon Kalan
New Delhi.
...Petitioner
Versus
1. Union of India
Through Land Acquisition Collector
SouthWest District, Kapashera,
New Delhi.
2. DDA
Through its Vice Chairman
Vikas Sadan, I.N.A Market
Delhi.
...Respondents
Filed on : 26.08.2011
Reserved on : 21.10.2013
Decided on :23.10.2013
LAC No: 68/11 1 D.O.O.23.10.2013
J U D G M E N T :
1. This is a reference under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
2. Vide a notification under Section 4 of LA Act dated 07.04.2006 and declaration under Section 6 of LA Act dated 04.04.2007, 407 Bighas 19 Biswas of land forming part of village Dichaon Kalan was notified for acquisition for a public purpose namely, construction of 100 mtr. wide road under Planned Development of Delhi.
3. The Petitioner was the bhumidar of a piece of the acquired lands as mentioned in statement under Section 19 of LA Act which is extracted below: Item No. Name of Petitioner Field No. Total Area Share Kind Bigha Biswa of soil 184 Ram Dutt 109//20 4 - 16 Full A S/o Ram Richpal As per the statement, date of taking over of possession was 16.04.2010.
4. For determining the market value of the land with reference to the date of notification under Section 4 of L.A. Act, the collector relied upon the indicative price fixed by Govt. of NCT of Delhi for agricultural land LAC No: 68/11 2 D.O.O.23.10.2013 in Delhi @ Rs. 17,58,400/ per acre as conveyed by the Dy. Secretary ( L.A) Land Building department vide letter No. F9 (20)/80/L & B/LA/6720 dated 30.08.2005. Therefore, market value of the land under acquisition was determined @ Rs. 17,58,400/ per acre or Rs. 3,66,333.33/ per bigha.
5. Aggrieved by market value of their land as determined by the collector, petitioner has filed the present reference petition for enhancement of compensation.
6. The petitioner claimed that the Collector has erred in not taking into consideration the potential value of the acquired land which is situated near the village Nangli Sekrawati which is an industrial area and the acquired land is eminently suited for industrial purposes and has valued the land on the basis of agricultural land.
7. The petitioner further claimed that at the time of assessing the market value of acquired land, village Dichaon Kala formed part of the village Najafgarh which is the main commercial center of the entire rural areas.
8. The next contention of the petitioner is that LAC has assessed the market value of the land on the basis of Govt. notification which does not reflect the true market value of the acquired land due to its unique feature as regards its locations, potentialities and existing advantages. It was claimed that all public utilities and facilities like electricity, LAC No: 68/11 3 D.O.O.23.10.2013 transport, hospitals, schools & sports stadium were available in Najafgarh, prior to the issuance of notification under Section 4, LA Act.
9. The petitioner has further averred that there are building activities near the adjoining to the acquired land and a number of residential colonies have come up in existence near the acquired land.
10. The petitioner has contended that LAC has also not taken into consideration the factum of sale of commercial plots in open auction by DDA in the Dwarka Project which is just adjoining the acquired land and that LAC has not assessed the fair market value of the acquired land and that land in other part of Delhi acquired for Metro Project has been assessed as commercial and has been awarded compensation at the rate of more than Rs. 16,000/ per sq. yds.
11. It is further claimed by the petitioner that acquired land is levelled land and is not having any pits and therefore acquisition of the land have deprived the petitioners from the better fruits of the land as adjoining of the land almost fully developed and that in the open market, the value of the acquired land is more than @ Rs. 50,000/ per square meter.
12. It is further claimed by the petitioner that LAC has also not assessed the damages of the crops suffered by the petitioner and that LAC has also not assessed the compensation of the land of the petitioner as per provision of Land Acquisition Act and the interest has LAC No: 68/11 4 D.O.O.23.10.2013 not been paid to the petitioner while the petitioner is legally entitled for 15% interest on the total amount from the date of taking over the possession till the passing of the award.
13. It is further contended by petitioner that award of LAC is erroneous as the same has not been passed within the stipulated period of time.
14. The petitioner claimed compensation at the rate of Rs. 50,000/ per square meter, solatium at the rate of 30% and the interest as per provisions of Land Acquisition Act and other benefits as per provisions of law.
15. On notice being issued to respondents i.e. Union of India and DDA, they have filed their written statements opposing any enhancement of compensation. They have claimed that the LAC has assessed the market value at just and reasonable rates.
16. On pleadings of the parties, the following issues were settled:
1. What was the market value of the land in question on the date of notification under Section 4 of LA Act?
2. Relief.
17. In support of its claim, petitioner has examined twelve witnesses and thereafter, the Ld. Counsel for the petitioner also tendered certified copy of the judgment dated 29.08.2013 passed by this court in LAC No: 68/11 5 D.O.O.23.10.2013 LAC No. 137/11, titled as Rati Bhan & Ors. Vs. UOI & Ors as Ex.C1.
18. PW1 is Sh. Naresh Kumar, LDC, L & DO, Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi proved the schedule of market rates of commercial and residential properties w.e.f. 1.4.1998 to 31.03.2000 as Ex.PW1/1.
19. Petitioner has examined Amit Kumar Yadav, Patwari from land and Building Department, ITO Vikas Bhavan, New Delhi as PW2. He has proved notifications issued from time to time by the Land and Building Department of Delhi Administration, fixing the minimum price of agricultural land in the Union Territory of Delhi for the purpose of acquisition. The same has been proved as Ex.PW2/1 collectively.
20. PW3 is Sh. Surender Singh, Kanungo from office of Delhi Jal Board proved the allotment letter of dated 18.11.93 of allotment of land to Delhi Jal Board for construction of a mini water treatment and Sewage plant as Ex.PW3/A which shows the rate of premium as 20 lacs per acre and ground rent @ 2.5% per annum of the premium.
21. PW4 is petitioner Ram Dutt himself. Apartfrom filing his affidavit towards evidence as Ex.PW4/A, he has also proved photocopies of certified copies of sale deeds Mark A to H.
22. PWs Shri Jagdish, Sahab Singh, RamPhool and Sube Singh are the vendors who have sold their land of village Dichaon Kalan through registered sale deeds Ex.PW4/5, Ex.PW4/3, Mark G and Mark H LAC No: 68/11 6 D.O.O.23.10.2013 respectively. PW Dharam Pal has sold his land of village Bakharwala through registered sale deed Mark F.
23. The allotment of Gaon Sabha land to Delhi Jal Board for construction of Mini Sewage Treatment Plant in Village Dichaon Kalan proved by PW Yogender Kumar EAA, BDO Office, Najafgarh New Delhi as Ex.PW6/A ( Collectively) shows that 6 Bigha and 10 Bishwas of Gaon Sabha land in village Dichaon Kalan was released to Delhi Jal Board in the year 2008 for the above purpose on a premium calculated @ Rs. 81.62 lacs per acre and ground rent @ 2.5 % thereof.
24. PW9 is Nitin, Assistant from office of Sub Registrar, Punjabi Bagh, Nangloi, Delhi has proved the sale deed Ex.PW9/1 being registered in his office vide registration no. 672, Addl. Book 1, Vol. 888, on pages 91 to 111 on 06.02.2008.
25. PW10 Suresh, Assistant from office of Sub Registrar, Kapashera has proved the sale deeds of village Masoodabad and Dichaon Kalan being registered in his office on different dates as Ex.PW10/1 to Ex.PW10/7.
26. PW11 is Sh. Bijender Singh, Halka Patwari, Village Dichaon Kalan, Tehsil Najafgarh, Delhi. He has proved the akssizra of village Dichaon Kalan as Ex.PW11/A.
27. On behalf of respondent UOI, it's counsel Shri S.S. Dalal, Advocate tendered the award as Ex. R1. He also tendered photocopy of LAC No: 68/11 7 D.O.O.23.10.2013 certified copies of some sale deeds executed on 28.04.2005, 20.12.2005, 24.01.2006 and 03.03.2006 as Ex. R2 to R5 respectively.
28. Ld. Counsel for DDA has adopted the evidence adduced by Union of India.
29. I have heard Sh. B.D. Sharma, Advocate, appearing for petitioner, Sh. S.S. Dalal, advocate for UOI, Sh. Arvind Gupta, Advocate for DDA and have perused the entire records. My findings on the issues are as under: 30. ISSUE No. 1 All the evidence led by both sides has already been considered in the case of ' Rati Bhan & Ors. Vs. UOI & ors.' LAC No. 137/11 decided on 29.08.2013 which is also relied upon by the petitioner. The land involved in the said case was also acquired by the same Award No. 10/0809 in pursuance of notification under Section 4 of the L A Act issued on 07.04.2006. Market value of the acquired land as the above date of notification under Section 4 of LA Act has been assessed Rs. 22.58 lacs per acre.
31. No evidence showing that the lands of petitioner are superior to the lands involved in the case of ' Rati Bhan & Ors. Vs. UOI & ors.' LAC No. 137/11 has been brought on record by the petitioner. Similarly no evidence showing that the lands of petitioner are inferior in any aspect than the land referred to in case of 'Rati Bhan & Ors. Vs. UOI & ors.' LAC No: 68/11 8 D.O.O.23.10.2013 LAC No. 137/11' has been adduced by the respondents.
32. It is well settled that if a compensation amount is already fixed for a land then the same amount of compensation has to be given to the other land owners whose similarly placed land situated adjacent is acquired under the same notification. There is no new evidence to persuade the Court to take a different view in this reference.
33. Therefore, in the present reference market value of land in question shall be the same as was determined by this Court in the case of 'Rati Bhan & Ors. Vs. UOI & ors.' LAC No. 137/11. Petitioner is therefore entitled to market value @ Rs. 22.58 lacs per acre which means an increase of Rs. 5 lacs per acre or Rs. 1.04 lacs per bigha. He shall also be entitled to the other statutory benefits. Issue No. 1 is decided accordingly.
34. Relief: In view of the above Accordingly, the petitioner is entitled to :
(i) Compensation @ Rs. 22.58 lacs per acre i.e. an increase of Rs. 5 lacs per acre or Rs. 1.04 lacs per bigha in respect of land and share as detailed in para 3.
(ii) Additional amount @ 12% per annum under Section 23 (1A) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 from the date of notification under Section 4 of the LA Act i.e. 07.04.2006 till LAC No: 68/11 9 D.O.O.23.10.2013 the date of Award or date of taking possession of the land, whichever is earlier.
(iii) Solatium @ 30% on the enhanced compensation under Section 23 (2) of LA Act.
(iv) Interest @ 9% per annum for first year from date of possession and @ 15% per annum for subsequent period till compensation is paid to the petitioner or deposited in the court.
(v) Petitioner would get no interest between 28.11.2011 and 16.01.2012 vide order dated 28.11.2011.
35. The reference is answered accordingly. Let a copy of the judgment be sent to the LAC(SW) for information and necessary action. Let the compensation be calculated by LAC and disbursed to petitioner after deducting compensation already paid. Decree be prepared in terms of judgment and file be consigned to record room.
Announced in the open Court
on 23rd Day of October, 2013 (ALOK AGARWAL)
ADDL. DISTRICT JUDGE
DWARKA COURTS: NEW DELHI
LAC No: 68/11 10 D.O.O.23.10.2013