Mohammed Kannu Mohammed Ibrahim and Others vs State of Kerala and The Kerala Film Development Corporation

Pius C. Kuriakose, J.—Under challenge in this appeal preferred by the claimants is the award of the Reference Court re-fixing the value of the land under acquisition at Rs. 950/- per Are. The property in question was a plantation and was acquired for the purpose of Kerala Film Development Corporation pursuant to Section 4(1) notification published on 02/03/76. The Land Acquisition Officer awarded land value at the rate of Rs. 247/- per Are. The Reference Court in the first instance re-fixed the land value at Rs. 800/- per Are in respect of larger holdings while in respect of small holdings the value was re-fixed at Rs. 1,500/- per Are. The Government as well as the claimants preferred appeal to this Court. Considering those appeals, this Court remanded the issue to the Reference Court. The impugned judgment has been passed pursuant to the above remand. Under the impugned judgment, the land value has been re-fixed at Rs. 950/- per Are. According to the Appellants, the value re-determined is inadequate. The Appellants point out that the award of the court re-fixing value of Rs. 1,500/- per Are for small holdings has become final.

We have heard submissions of Sri. Ziyad Rahman, the learned Counsel for the Appellants and Smt. Josephina, the learned Government Pleader. Sri. Ziyad would draw our attention to Exts. A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6 and A7. According to him, the court below has discarded Exts.A1 to A6 and has only relied on Ext. A7. He argued that Exts.A1 to A6 should also be relied on and market value should be re-fixed accordingly. Even though Sri. Ziyad was very persuasive we do not find any infirmity about the judgment of the court below discarding Exts.A1 to A6 from consideration. According to us Ext. A7, is the only item which could have been relied on. Ext. A7 pertains to an acquisition of about 4.10 cents of land in the same village on the basis of Section 4(1) notification published on 13/11/70. The court below noticed that Ext.A7 was in respect of property abutting main road. The court below deducted 50% from the value reflected in Ext.A7 towards the largeness of the extent. Thereafter, for the road frontage enjoyed by Ext. A7 property the court below deducted 25%. Thereafter, what the court below did was to add 10% for the passage of five years time till date of Section 4(1) notification. This was how value arrived at to Rs. 950/- for these properties. The argument of Sri. Ziyad was that the deductions made by the court below are too high and that the additions made by the court below are insufficient.

Though all the submissions of Sri. Ziyad were opposed by Smt. Josephina, we find some merit in the submission of Sri. Ziyad. According to us, the learned Subordinate Judge was very miserly in giving additions. We are sure that during the period of five years the value has certainly increased by more than 10%. We also feel that the deductions made for the size are also high. According to us on a better assessment based on the same evidence and keeping in mind the relevant inputs, the market value of the land under acquisition can be re-fixed at Rs. 1025/- per Are. Accordingly, allowing this appeal, we re-fix the market value of the land under acquisition at Rs. 1025/- per Are. The Appellants will be entitled for all statutory benefits admissible under Sections 23(2) and u/s 28 of the Land Acquisition Act. The amount due u/s 23(1A) will not be awarded as the award of the officer is prior to 30/04/82. The appeal is allowed to the above extent, however, without any order as to costs.