Gujarat High Court
Government vs Gujarat State Road Transport ... on 6 August, 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION
C/FA/349/2020 JUDGMENT DATED: 06/08/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/FIRST APPEAL NO. 349 of 2020
FOR APPROVAL AND SIGNATURE:
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVAN M. DESAI
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Approved for Reporting Yes No
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GOVERNMENT
Versus
GUJARAT STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION
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Appearance:
MR RAHUL DAVE, AGP for the Appellant(s) No. 1
MR HS MUNSHAW(495) for the Defendant(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVAN M. DESAI
Date : 06/08/2025
ORAL JUDGMENT
1. The present First Appeal is filed by appellant-original opponent under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to "the said Act") read with Section 96 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The appellant has challenged the impugned judgment and award passed in Land Acquisition Reference Case No.1227 of 2007 (Old Land Acquisition Reference Case No.1215 of 2006) dated 30.12.2017 passed by learned 2nd Additional Senior Civil judge, Idar. Page 1 of 10 Uploaded by RINKU MALI(HC01574) on Thu Aug 14 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Aug 15 23:28:35 IST 2025
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2. Heard learned Assistant Government Pleader Mr. Rahul Dave for the appellant-Government and learned advocate Mr. H.S. Munshaw for respondent.
3. The brief facts of the case are as under:-
3.1. The lands situated at village Taluka-Idar, District-
Sabarkantha was proposed to be acquired by respondent No.2 for the purpose of construction of expansion of Idar- Khedbrahma State Highway. The Notification under Section 4 of the said Act was published on 30.12.2005 and lastly published on 09.01.2006. The Notification under Section 6 of the Act was published on 17.02.2006 and lastly published on 22.02.2006. The award under Section 11 of the said Act came to be passed on 30.05.2006 awarding compensation @ Rs.236/- per square meters for the acquired lands. Respondent herein- original claimant being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the award filed Land Acquisition Reference under Section 18 of the said Act and claimed compensation at Rs.2,000/- per square Page 2 of 10 Uploaded by RINKU MALI(HC01574) on Thu Aug 14 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Aug 15 23:28:35 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/349/2020 JUDGMENT DATED: 06/08/2025 undefined meters. The learned Reference Court awarded compensation of Rs.1,953/- per square meters with statutory benefits. Being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned judgment and award, appellant has filed the present First Appeal.
4. At the outset, learned Assistant Government Pleader for the appellant has submitted that learned Land Acquisition Officer has assessed the compensation at Rs.236/- per square meters on the basis of Resolution of the District Land Price Committee dated 25.05.2006. While determining the market value of the acquired land, learned Land Acquisition Officer has considered the said determination done by Town Planner, Himmatnagar and awarded just and reasonable compensation. It is further contended that claimants have placed reliance upon Exhibits-21, 23 and 30. The sale deeds are respectively dated 04.08.2003, 21.05.2002 and 05.08.2004. Claimants examined the Registrar of the Office of the Sub-Registrar and proved the sale deeds Exhibits-21 and 23. However, without examining any Page 3 of 10 Uploaded by RINKU MALI(HC01574) on Thu Aug 14 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Aug 15 23:28:35 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/349/2020 JUDGMENT DATED: 06/08/2025 undefined witness, the sale deed dated 05.08.2004, Exhibit-30, was considered by learned Reference Court and awarded unreasonable compensation in favour of the claimants. In absence of any convincing evidence, learned Reference Court has committed an error by holding the market value of the land in question at Rs.1,953/- per square meters. The Notification under Section 4 of the said Act was published on 30.12.2005 and the Notification under Section 6 of the said Act was published on 17.02.2006. While determining the market value of the land in question, the sale deeds of 2002 and 2003 could have been the best available evidence. As per the sale deed Exhibit- 21, the market value of the property comes to Rs.974.41 per square meters and as per the sale deed Exhibit-23, the market value of the property comes to Rs.941.48 per square meters. If at all, learned Reference Court was inclined to grant additional compensation, the sale deed Exhibit-23 which could have been the relevant evidence. It is further contended that learned Reference Court has further committed an error by not Page 4 of 10 Uploaded by RINKU MALI(HC01574) on Thu Aug 14 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Aug 15 23:28:35 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/349/2020 JUDGMENT DATED: 06/08/2025 undefined deducting the compensation of Rs.236/- per square meters from the compensation of Rs.1,953/- per square meters. No other submissions, except above are canvassed by learned Assistant Government Pleader.
5. Per contra, learned advocate for the respondent has supported the judgment and award and contended that learned Reference Court has adopted the correct manner and method in determining the compensation. The documents which were placed on record are the sale deeds of the surrounding lands and sale deed Exhibit-30 is the latest sale deed of dt. 05.08.2004. As per the oral deposition of the Deputy Engineer of State Transport Corporation recorded at Exhibit-16, the land which was acquired was a developed commercial area and in future also there were chances of more development. If the land was not acquired respondent was in the process of developing the land for the purpose of modern commercial use and would have earned out of the such commercial activities but since the land Page 5 of 10 Uploaded by RINKU MALI(HC01574) on Thu Aug 14 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Aug 15 23:28:35 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/349/2020 JUDGMENT DATED: 06/08/2025 undefined was acquired for the purpose of expansion of Idar-Khedbrahma State Highway, Himmatnagar, the chances of developing the land is lost. It is further contended that while determining the market value of the land in question, the best available evidence which is a sale instance, is considered by learned Reference Court. Exhibit-30 is the sale deed of a nearby land and as per the sale deed, the price of the land comes to Rs.2,005/- per square meters. In the present case, the land in question is admeasuring about 175.20 square meters. Learned Reference Court has considered the evidence on record and granted just and reasonable compensation in favour of the respondents. No other submissions, except above, are canvassed by learned advocate for the respondent.
6. I have considered the submissions canvassed by learned advocates for the parties and perused the Paper-book. The land land in question was owned and occupied by the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation and was running a Bus Depot / Page 6 of 10 Uploaded by RINKU MALI(HC01574) on Thu Aug 14 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Aug 15 23:28:35 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/349/2020 JUDGMENT DATED: 06/08/2025 undefined Workshop. The land was acquired for the purpose of expansion of Idar-Khedbrahma State Highway. For the purpose of acquisition, Notification under Section 4 of the Act was published on 30.12.2005 and the Notification under Section 6 of the Act came to be published on 17.02.2006. The learned Land Acquisition Officer, after considering the report of the District Land Price Committee dated 25.05.2006, decided the price of the land at Rs.236/- per square meters. The said determination of market price was not agreeable to the respondent herein and therefore, the reference under Section 18 came to be filed by claimants claiming compensation of Rs.2,000/- per square meters. In support of claim, claimants produced evidences such as sale deeds Exhibit-21 dated 04.05.2003, Exhibit-23 dated 21.05.2002 and Exhibit-30 dated 05.08.2004. The claimants also examined the Officer from the Sub-Registrar's Office to prove the sale deeds Exhibits-21 and 23. Exhibit-30 is a copy of registered sale deed for the land known as Bagicha Bangla Outside Gate of Idar City. The sale deed pertains to a Page 7 of 10 Uploaded by RINKU MALI(HC01574) on Thu Aug 14 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Aug 15 23:28:35 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/349/2020 JUDGMENT DATED: 06/08/2025 undefined commercial property, wherein the measurement of the land was approximately 97.73 square meters. In the present case, it appears from record that the land in question is admeasuring about 175.20 square meters. For determining the market value of the land, one of the factors which is required to be considered is sale instances, the development surrounding the acquired land and so on. The learned Reference Court has taken into consideration the instances of sale. It is well settled law that in determining the market price of the acquired land, Court has to consider the best available evidence which makes claimants entitled to get maximum compensation. Learned Reference Court has, in detail, considered Exhibit-30 and rightly deducted 15% towards development charges and thereafter, added 10% as rise in the price because of the fact that the sale deed Exhibit-30 is dated 05.08.2004, whereas Notification under Section 4 was published on 30.12.2005. There is no evidence led by appellant to substantiate the determination of market price at Rs.236/- per square metres. Appellant, when relying upon a resolution of the Page 8 of 10 Uploaded by RINKU MALI(HC01574) on Thu Aug 14 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Aug 15 23:28:35 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/349/2020 JUDGMENT DATED: 06/08/2025 undefined District Land Price Committee, must establish factors which were considered by District Land Price Committee in determining market price of land at Rs.236/- per square meters. In my view, in absence of any supportive evidence, reliance cannot be placed upon Resolution dated 25.05.2006. However, it appears that learned Reference Court has failed to give deduction from the determination of the market price at Rs.1,953/-. The market price which has been determined by learned Land Acquisition Officer at Rs.236/- per square meters is required to be deducted from the market price determined at Rs.1,953/- per square meters. Learned advocate for the respondent-Corporation has also fairly conceded that as learned Reference Court has finally determined the market value of the land in question at Rs.1,953/- per square meters, the market value which has been determined by learned Land Acquisition Officer at Rs.236/- per square meters is required to be deducted from the said amount of Rs.1,953/- per square meters. Page 9 of 10 Uploaded by RINKU MALI(HC01574) on Thu Aug 14 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Aug 15 23:28:35 IST 2025
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7. Considering the aforesaid facts, First Appeal is partly allowed. The impugned judgment and award passed in Land Acquisition Reference Case No.1227 of 2007 (Old Land Acquisition Reference Case No.1215 of 2006) dated 30.12.2017 by learned 2nd Additional Senior Civil judge, Idar is modified to the extent that respondent-original claimants are entitled to total compensation of Rs.1,717/- (Rs.1,953/- less Rs.236/-) per square metres as an additional compensation together with all statutory benefits on additional compensation. The appellant shall deposit additional compensation within six weeks from the date of order. Once the additional compensation is deposited by appellant, learned Reference Court shall disburse compensation in favour of the claimants after due identification and verification as per the prevailing practice.
8. Record and Proceedings, if any, be sent back to the learned Tribunal / Court forthwith.
(D. M. DESAI,J) RINKU MALI Page 10 of 10 Uploaded by RINKU MALI(HC01574) on Thu Aug 14 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Aug 15 23:28:35 IST 2025