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i) Now coming to the issue before hand, with the passage of time, the law for ascertainment of the market value of the acquired land has evolved and various methods have been adopted by the Higher Courts to ascertain the market value of the land under acquisition. From a holistic readings of the various LAC No.17/18 Chander Prakash Gupta Vs. Union of India Pg No. 23 of 37 pronouncements of the various Higher Courts, the following guidelines can be safely culled out as under:-

"• While determining the amount of compensation payable in respect of lands acquired by the State, market value of the same is to be determined. The basic principle is that market value means the price that a willing purchaser would pay to a willing seller for a property having due regard to its existing condition with all existing advantages and its potential possibility when laid out in the most advantageous manner excluding any advantage due to carrying out of the scheme for which the property had been compulsorily acquired. • There are different methods ascertaining market value. The methods of valuation which may be adopted are (i) opinion of experts (ii) price paid within reasonable time (ii) any bonafide transaction of purchase of land acquired or land adjacent having similar advantages (iii) capitalization method or its potential value for acquisition or developed or developing colonies or nearness to roads etc. • The comparable sales method is the preferred mode over other methods of valuation. The most relevant piece of evidence which can form basis of determining market value are sale deeds pertaining to portion of land belonging to the same area which has been acquired, executed prior to the date of notification under Section 4 of the Act. Factors to be kept in mind for determining market value on comparable sale method are that (i) sale must be a genuine transaction