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Judgment
Surinder Singh, J.—The instant Regular First Appeal u/s 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, in short ''the Act'', has been preferred by the State, feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied by the award passed by the learned Reference Court in Reference Petition No. 31 of 1998 titled Som Chand v. State, decided on 8th May, 2000 alongwith other connected matters, whereby an amount of compensation was determined @ Rs. 75,000/- per Bigha at the time of issuance of Notification u/s 4 of the Act with included solatium and statutory interest. The Respondents-claimants have also sought higher value of the acquired land, thus filed Cross-objections, which have been taken up together for its decision.
The land in question was acquired for the public purpose i.e. for the construction of ''Bajeer Bowri Jhakri Bye-pass Road'', regarding which a Notification u/s 4 of the Act was issued on 2.5.1989. It included the land of the Respondent/ Cross-Objectors and other land owners in Tehsil Nirmand, District Kullu, H.P. Subsequently, Notifications under Sections 6 and 7 of the Act were also issued on 27th January, 1990. The Collector, Land Acquisition took up the matter for acquiring the land. He determined the amount of compensation payable to the claimants as per his award dated 26th October, 1991 on different classification of land of village Phati Thachwa, Tehsil Nirmand, District Kullu, H.P. as follows:
Sl.No.
Classification of Land
Rate Per Bigha
1.
RopaDoyam
Rs. 61,677.00
2.
BakhalAwal
Rs. 27,314.00
3.
RopaDoyam
Rs. 22,028.00
4.
BakhalSoyam
Rs. 10,573.00
5.
Banjar & GairMumkin (i.e. uncultivated land)
Rs. 2,643.00
The claimants were also paid the compensation for the non-fruit and fruit bearing trees.
The Respondents herein felt aggrieved by the award passed by the Land Acquisition Collector, as such filed reference petition for its determination as per the provisions of Section 18 of the Act. The learned Reference Court after going through the evidence on record awarded an amount of Rs. 75,000/- per Bigha, for cultivable land inclusive of compensation for non-fruit and fruit bearing trees and also Rs. 65,000/- per Bigha for Bakhal Soyam land including compensation for non-fruit and fruit bearing trees. Further the Respondent-claimant was held entitled to solatium @ 30% on the enhanced amount of compensation apart from the other statutory interest.
The State laid its challenge by means of the present appeal to the impugned award, in which the Cross-Objections have also been filed by the claimant-Respondent.
It has been brought to the notice of this Court that the connected Regular First Appeals arising out of the same award bearing Nos. RFA Nos. 22, 23 and 24 of 2001, have been decided by this Court vide its detailed judgment passed on 30.10.2009, whereby keeping in view the overall aspect of the matter, purpose of acquisition, its potentiality, the sale exemplar and considering the value of the acquired land at the relevant time, the compensation was assessed @ Rs. 1,20,000/- per Bigha. Finding that the land requires no extensive development, the deduction of 20% on the above amount was made and against this background, the value of the acquired land was fixed at Rs. 96,000/-per Bigha. In addition, the claimants/ Cross-Objectors were also held entitled to the statutory increase in the Solatium and the interest etc. Consequently, the appeals filed by the State were dismissed and the Cross-Objections were allowed to the above extent.
Thus, keeping in view the aforesaid facts, I do not intend to take a different view, accordingly the value of the land in question is also fixed at Rs. 96,000/- per Bigha, in addition, the Respondent-Cross-Objectors also held entitled to the solatium and statutory interest etc. at par with the judgment passed by this Court in RFA Nos. 22, 23 and 24 of 2001 decided on 30.10.2009 arising out of the same award. Accordingly, the State appeal stands dismissed and Cross-Objections are disposed of in the above terms.
All pending application(s), if any, also stand disposed of.