Prem Chand vs State of Haryana

G.S. Singhvi, J.

These appeals are directed against the judgment dated September 13, 1988, passed by the learned Single Judge in Regular First Appeals Nos. 16 and 17 of 1986.

Facts which are necessary for deciding these appeals are that vide notification dated July 23, 1980, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act), the Government of Haryana acquired 3.86 acres of land situated in village Dharuhera, tehsil Rewari, District Mohindergarh, for the construction of 66 KV Sub Station at Dharuhera. By an award dated September 17, 1981, the Land Acquisition Collector directed the payment of compensation at the rate of Rs. 11,000/ per acre. The land holders filed reference applications which came to be disposed of by the Additional District Judge, Narnaul, who fixed the marketvalue of the land at the rate of thirty per cent on the total compensation along with interest at the rate of nine per cent per annum on the due amount from the date of taking of possession i.e. September 17, 1981, till the date of recovery. The appellants filed regular first appeals before this court. The learned Single Judge came to the conclusion that the claimants were entitled to compensation at the rate of Rs. 52,000/ per acre. He also directed that they are entitled to the benefit of Sections 23IA, 23(2) and 28 of the Act as they stand after amendment vide Act No. 68 of 1984.

The only ground on which the appellants have challenged the impugned judgment is that the compensation awarded by the Land Acquisition Collector, the Reference Court and the learned Single Judge is on lower side and that there was no justification for imposing onethird cut by the learned Single Judge.

Having carefully perused the judgments of the learned Single Judge and the Reference Court, we are in complete agreement with the former that the market value of the property in question should be fixed at Rs. 78,000/ per acre and one third cut should be imposed keeping in view the law laid down by the Supreme Court in Brig. Sahib Singh Kalha etc. v. Amritsar Improvement Trust and others, AIR 1982 SC 940 and Administrator Genl. of West Bengal v. Collector, Varanasi, 1988(1) R.R.R. 480 : A.I.R. 1988 SC 943.

We may have reduced cut from onethird to onefourth in the light of the judgment of this Court in Brijinder Singh v. The Land Acquisition Collector P.S.E.B., Patiala and another, 1994 All India Land Acquisition and Compensation Cases 46 : 1993(2) RRR 684 but keeping in view the fact that the learned Single Judge has given the benefit of the Amending Act No. 68 of 1984 qua the entire amount of compensation ignoring the fact that the award was made by the Land Acquisition Collector prior to April 30, 1982, we do not consider it appropriate to modify the Judgment of the learned Single Judge, which, in our considered opinion does not suffer from any patent illegality.

For the reasons mentioned above, these appeals are dismissed.

Appeals dismissed.