GOVINDA BHAT, C. J. ( 1 ) THESE appeals by the Special Land Acquisition Officer, Vijayanagar steel Plant, Bellary, ate directed against the common award and separate decrees d/. 30-7-1975 made in LACs. Nos. 177 and 178 of 1972 on the file of the Court of the Civil Judge, Bellary, enhancing the compensation in respect of 29 acres 50 cents of dry land in Survey No. 45 of Vaddu village, Sandur taluk acquired for the Vijayanagar Steel Plant pursuant to the Preliminary notification under S. 4 (1) of the Land Acquisition Act (hereinafter called the Act) published in the Gazette dated 4-3-1971. ( 2 ) IN the award made by him under S. 11 of the Act the LAO fixed the market value of the land at Rs. 1,250 an acre, after analysing a number of sale transactions as disclosed from the particulars obtained by him from the office of the Sub-Registrar. He discarded many of the transactions as not correctly reflecting the market value of land and ultimately relied on a sale tiansaction dated 13-6-1970 under which three acres 50 cents of dry land in Survey No. 95a of the same Vaddu village was stated to have been sold for Rs 4,000. Taking note of the fact that the sale-deed dt. 13-6-1970, was eight months prior to the date of publication of the preliminary Notification and of the general trend of appreciation in value of agricultural lands in Sandur taluk, he fixed the market value of the land in question at Rs. 1,250 an acre. That award was not accepted by the claimants who sought a reference under S. 18 of the Act. ( 3 ) IN the references before the learned Civil Judge, the claimants did not produce any evidence of transactions of sale of similar lands or of any lands. They rested their claim altogether on the basis of capitalisation of the income derived from the land. One of the claimants and one other witness on their side were examined to support the claimants' case regarding the alleged income. The claimants produced a certified copy of the notification issued by the Tahsildar under the Land Reforms Act which gives the average yield of the principal crops in Sandur Taluk. The LAO who was examined to support his award, produced the sale deed d/. 13-6-70 relied on by him, which was marked as Ext. The claimants produced a certified copy of the notification issued by the Tahsildar under the Land Reforms Act which gives the average yield of the principal crops in Sandur Taluk. The LAO who was examined to support his award, produced the sale deed d/. 13-6-70 relied on by him, which was marked as Ext. D5 and the sale-statistics supplied to him by the Sub-Registrar's Office, which was marked as Ext. D4. Neither the vendor nor the vendee nor any other person who had personal knowledge of the actual transaction was examined. ( 4 ) THE learned Civil Judge, relying upon the oral evidence estimated the average yield of the acquired land at six quintals of jowar per acre. He valued the yield at Rs. 76 a quintal and deducted from the gross income of Rs. 456 per acre thus arrived, 25 per cent thereof as expenses of cultivation. Thus he estimated the net income at Rs. 342 an acre, which he capitalised at 14 years' purchase value, which yielded the value of Rs. 4788 an acre. This, according to the learned Civil Judge was not however, the market value. The learned Civil Judge took the average between Rs. 4,788 so arrived at, and Rs. 1,250 as disclosed by the sale transaction relied on by the LAO and arrived at Rs. 3,019 an acre, which the learned Civil judge fixed as the market value of the land. The enhancement has been challenged in these appeals. ( 5 ) WE heard the learned Govt Advocate for the State, the learned senior Standing Counsel for the Central Govt nnd also Shri M. Rama Bhat, learned Counsel for the respondents-claimants. We have been taken through the entire evidence on record and the award of the Court below. ( 6 ) THE method of averging the two values arrived at, one on the basis of the capitalisation of income method and another on the basis of the value as disclosed by the sale transaction, is wholly unsupportable. Learned Counsel on both sides do not support this mode of valuation adopted by the Court below. The learned Civil Judge rejected the evidence ot the sale transaction under Ext. D5 on the ground that neither the vendor nor the vendee thereunder, was examined and the LAO who speaks to it has had no personal knowledge of that transaction. Learned Counsel on both sides do not support this mode of valuation adopted by the Court below. The learned Civil Judge rejected the evidence ot the sale transaction under Ext. D5 on the ground that neither the vendor nor the vendee thereunder, was examined and the LAO who speaks to it has had no personal knowledge of that transaction. Evidence of genuine transactions of sale of similar lands in the area is the best evidence in the matter. It is only in the absence of the evidence of such sales or to counter-check the findings based on such sale transactions the method of capitalisation is permissible to be resorted to. In the present case the parties have not placed sufficient evidence before the Court below to enable it to arrive at a just and proper conclusion as to the market value of the acquired lands. The award of the LAO as well as that of the Court below cannot be said to accord with settled principles of valuation. ( 7 ) THE determination of market value in the present case is a matter of considerable importance to the State. Though we are concerned in the present cases with about 30 acres of lands, the determination of their market value, however, will have larger impact and repercussion as, according to the submissions made before us, nearly 13000 acres are to be acquired for the same purpose, namely, the Vijayanagar Steel Project. What is decided in the first batch of cases would affect a large number of other cases. On the one hand, if on basis of perfunctory evidence the Court estimates the value of lands at disproportionately high rates, the interest of the State and in the ultimate analysis, of the public, suffers grievously. On the other hand, if the just and fair price of the land is not determined injustice will be occasioned to thousands of farmers. Since any decision in the present case is going to have very large repercussions, it is just and necessary, in our opinion, that this matter be remanded in order to enable both sides to lead proper evidence. ( 8 ) IN a reference under S. 18 of the Act, the Court is required to determine the market value of the land acquired in accordance with the principles laid down by S. 23 of the Act. ( 8 ) IN a reference under S. 18 of the Act, the Court is required to determine the market value of the land acquired in accordance with the principles laid down by S. 23 of the Act. 'market value' of land is really a misnomer as there is no such thing as a 'property market' where land is for sale. The Court has to estimate what a willing vendor might reasonably expect to obtain from a willing purchaser. It is the pure outcome of a hypothetical sale at the time of the publication of the Notification under section 4 (1) of the Act. ( 9 ) VALUATION of land, though not an exact science, is an art. In advanced countries, there are experts on valuation of different kinds of properties. In our country also the value of expert opinion on valuation is assuming increasing importance and significance in the context of various tax legislation like the Wealth Tax Act, Estate Duty Act and Gift Tax Act in the administration of which the Central Govt has employed its own valuers besides notifying a list of 'approved valuers'. The value of a piece of real property may be shown by the opinions of witnesses who are sufficiently well informed on the subject. A witness whose training and experience has equipped him to assess the value of real property is considered an expert (vide Nichols on 'eminent Domain': Vol. 5, pp. 129, 155 ). The expert has to value the property which he is required to value, on the basis of well-settled principles of valuation. In that process, he has to examine the evidence of transactions of sale of similar land; the nature and the capacity for yield of the land; the rate of return expected on the investment on land having regard to the prevailing economic conditions and to take into account and assess all relevant criteria that constitute elements in the concept of market value. When the evidentiary value of transactions of sale of similar lands is assessed, the parties concerned with the transactions will have to be examined to know whether there was anything in the transaction which detracts from its acceptability of the transaction as correctly reflecting the market value. The valuation arrived at on the basis of one of the modes of valuation may have to be counter-checked by other methods. The valuation arrived at on the basis of one of the modes of valuation may have to be counter-checked by other methods. The method of valuation by the capitalisation of income involves the interplay of many diverse factors. It is neither possible nor advisable to enumerate all these relevant factors exhaustively. For instance, the rate of return expected from investments on land varies from region to region; on the basis o-f the nature of the crops raised; of the economic conditions; of the land legislators; and of the rate of interest in secured investments. ( 10 ) WHEREVER vast extents of land are acquired for big projects it is desirable that the concerned Govts should appoint experts for valuations before the LAOs make award and make available to the LAOs the reports of valuation of such experts. This would minimise the arbitrariness in the awards and the consequent injustice and delay. ( 11 ) IN the instant case, the LAO, having produced Ext. D5 the original sale-deed relied on by him, ought to have examined one of the parties to the transaction or a person acquainted with the transaction. No explanation was offered for not examining one of the parties. It is not clear from the records whether it is marked only for the purpose of identification or it was marked with the consent of the parties. In this state of the evidence, we are clearly of the opinion that in order to fix the proper market value of the land acquired, the award and decrees of the Court below have to be set aside and the matters remanded for adjudication afresh, granting liberty to the parties to lead further evidence in the light of this judgment. It is open to the parties to have expert valuation done and produce the report of the valuers and examine the valuers in the Court so that each party will have the opportunity to cross-examine the expert examined by the other side. ( 12 ) ACCORDINGLY, the award and decrees appealed against are set aside and the matters remitted for a fresh disposal in accordance with law and in the light of the observations contained hereinabove. Parties will bear their own costs in these appeals. --- *** --- .