JUDGMENT : LOKESHWAR SINGH PANTA, J. :- This is a batch of 28 appeals filed under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 by the State of Himachal Pradesh and land Acquisition Collector These appeals arise out of separate awards dated 3.1.1992, 27.11.1991,6.3.1992,27.3.1992, 30.3.1992, 10.4.1992, 18.4.1992, 31.3.1992, 19.6.1992, 13.5.1992, 23.4.1992, 11.5.1992, 16.4.1992, 22.8.1991, 27.5.1992, 20.6.1990, 21.10.1992, 28.10.1992, 14.1.1993, 29.3.1993, 12.3.1993, 27.5.1993, 6.7.1993 and 24.5.1993 respectively rendered by the District Judges and Additional District Judges, Mandi, Jullu, Shimla and Kangra in different Land Reference Cases whereby the amount of compensation has been enhanced for the land and trees/plants in favour of the respondents claimants and against the appellants. The facts and law involved in the present appeals are identical and the learned counsel appearing for the respective parties advanced their arguments in common and, therefore we propose to decide these appeals by this common judgment. 2. The facts giving rise to these appeals may briefly be stated:- The State of Himachal Pradesh intended to acquire the land of the respondents-claimants for construction of road in Districts Mandi, Kullu Shimla and Kangra, Notification under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 were issued on different dates. The lands involved in the acquisition were of different categories. The Land Acquisition Collector had taken up the proceedings of acquisition and assessed the market value of the acquired lands at different rates and for trees/fruit bearing plants separately. 3. The respondents-claimants feeling aggrieved against inadequacy of the amount of compensation filed petitions under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act claiming enhancement of the compensation of their lands and trees/fruit bearing plants on the grounds that the Market value of the acquired lands was much more than what has been awarded by the Land Acquisition Collector. The reference applications came to be heard and decided by the District Judges and Additional District Judges. 4. The parties led their oral and documentary evidence in respect of their respective claims and the learned District Judges and Additional District Judges on appraisal of the evidence on record awarded the enhanced amount of compensation for all kinds of lands irrespective of their classification and the fruit bearing trees separately. In addition to the enhanced amount of compensation statutory interest and solatium was also awarded in favour of the respondents-claimants and against the appellants. 5. In addition to the enhanced amount of compensation statutory interest and solatium was also awarded in favour of the respondents-claimants and against the appellants. 5. The appellants-State and Land Acquisition Collector being aggrieved have filed the present appeals challenging the correctness and validity of the judgment and awards of the District Judges and Additional District Judges in these appeals. 6. We have heard learned counsel on either side and re-examined and re-appreciated the oral and documentary evidence on record. The learned Advocate General relying upon a judgment of the Supreme Court in State of Haryana vs. Gurcharan Singh and another etc. (1995 (1) scale 125) contended that the awards passed by the courts below determining the amount of compensation for the lands as well as fruit bearing trees separately j are against the well settled position of law laid down by the apex Court in this judgment. The Supreme Court in the judgment relied upon by the learned Advocate General has held that the High Court of Punjab and Haryana has committed grave error of law in up-holding the determination of the compensation both to the land as well as fruit bearing trees and has also further committed an error in enhancing the market value to the fruit bearing trees in addition to the confirmation of the compensation separately awarded for the land and fruit bearing trees. The Honble Judges proceeded to hold that such enhancement by the courts are against the settled principles of law as laid down by the Supreme Court in catena of decisions. It is further stated that the Collector or the Courts determining the compensation for the land as well as fruit bearing trees cannot determine them separately. The compensation is to the value of the acquired land. The market value is determined on the basis of the yield. Then necessarily applying suitable multiplier, the compensation need to be awarded. Under no circumstances the court should allow the compensation on the basis of the nature of the land as well as fruit bearing trees. In other words, the market value of the land is determined twice over and one on the basis of the value of the land and again on the basis of the yield got from the fruit bearing trees. The definition of the land includes the benefits to arise from the land as defined in S.3 (a) of the Act. In other words, the market value of the land is determined twice over and one on the basis of the value of the land and again on the basis of the yield got from the fruit bearing trees. The definition of the land includes the benefits to arise from the land as defined in S.3 (a) of the Act. After compensation is determined on the basis of the value of the land from the income applying suitable multiplier, then the trees would be valued only as fire-wood and necessary compensation would be given. 7. Per contra, the learned counsel for the respondents-claimants relyings upon the later judgment of the Supreme Court in State of J&K Vs. Mohammad Mateen Wani and others (AIR 1998 Supreme Court 2470) contended that the compensation in respect of the lands and fruit bearing trees can be awarded by the Collector and the Courts separately if the Government of Himachal Pradesh have issued such circular orders which allows the compensation in respect of fruit bearing trees and lands separately. In the case of State of J&K Vs. Mohammad Mateen Wani and others, their Lordships of the Supreme Court have up-held the judgment of the J&K. High Court under which the compensation was enhanced separately for the acquisition of the land and fruit bearing trees. 8. Mr. G.D. Verma, learned senior counsel who is representing some of the respondents-claimants in these appeals has brought to our notice "Compilation of standing Orders of Financial Commissioners of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh" by Mr. K.N. Kashyap, IAS, (Retd.). The Financial .Commissioners Standing Order No. 28 deals with the land acquisition by the State Government. Para-7 of the said orders deals with two methods of acquisition by Government, namely, (a) by private negotiations; and (b) compulsory acquisition under the provisions of Act I of 1894. Para 8-I deals with initial proceeding and preparation of plans by the Acquiring Department. Para 10-A deals with application for supply of data necessary for preliminary estimate of likely compensation by the Acquiring Department payable on account of land to be acquired and make provisions in the budged in this regard before notification is issued under Section 4 of the Act. Para 10-A deals with application for supply of data necessary for preliminary estimate of likely compensation by the Acquiring Department payable on account of land to be acquired and make provisions in the budged in this regard before notification is issued under Section 4 of the Act. Para 10-B prescribes that as soon as notification under Section 4 of the Act is published the Land Acquisition Collector will send a copy of the same to the District Collector and shall ask for the data, necessary for a precise estimates of the value of the land including the value of the trees, buildings or other property. Para 11 deals with application for supply of data necessary for preliminary estimate under para 10-A which shall be made to the S.D.O.(c) of all the Sub Divisions in which the land is proposed to be acquired. Application for supply of Collectors rate under para 10-B will similarly be sent to the District Collectors of all the Districts in which the land is to be acquired. Under para-12 the Collector of the District on receipt of the application, will furnish data in respect of rates per acre of the different kinds of land alongwith a preliminary estimate of the value of trees, buildings and other property, if any, for which compensation will have to be paid. Para 36-1 imposes duty upon the Acquiring Officer who will cause statement in the form (i) to be prepared by the Tehsildar or other competent revenue Officer, as noted in paragraph 47, Land Administration Manual, in order to facilitate the enquiry into the value of the land and into the claim of interested persons. From the perusal of form (i) the names of Khasra number, Khatauni number, total area of field, the names of the owners etc., area taken up for acquisition, classification of the lands, crops, trees, wells, or houses on land taken up and value of such crops, trees, wells and houses have to be mentioned. Under Para 36-II, the statements will be given in a tabular form most of the information necessary to come to a decision as to the compensation to be awarded. Under para 40 the time limit as prescribed under the land Acquisition Act has been indicated within which the Land Acquisition Collector must announce the award assessing the market value of the land etc. Under para 40 the time limit as prescribed under the land Acquisition Act has been indicated within which the Land Acquisition Collector must announce the award assessing the market value of the land etc. Under para 41 the awards made by the Collector shall have to be submitted to the appropriate State Government. Under para 43 the main points to be examined by the authorities approving awards are : (a) whether the prices of land proposed to be allowed for various categories of land are reasonable; (b) whether the compensation on account of structures, wells, tubewells, trees, etc., are in accordance with the rates recommended by the-technical officers concerned or where these are proposed to be departed from the revised rates, are reasonable and (c) whether the change in classification of land as compared to the entries in the Jamabandi proposed by the Land Acquisition Collector are reasonable. Para 54 prescribes the procedure to be followed by the acquiring officer who shall draw up his award, when all statements have been recorded by him which will indicate the total area of the various qualities of land taken up, the rate and the amount of compensation to be paid on account of land of such quality, the total amount of compensation to be paid on account of crops, trees and houses etc, the proportion of the compensation to be awarded to mortgages, and decision on the objections that may have been raised by interested person, thereafter the collector has to award interest as prescribed under Section 23(1-A) of the Act and solatium @ 30% under Section 23(2). Under para 55 the Land Acquisition Collector shall have to draw up a statement showing the compensation awarded on account of each holding showing the Khasra and Khatauni numbers of the land acquired, the names of owners, tenants etc, are in acres of land taken up; quality of land; compensation for land, number of trees, houses etc. on the land or area of standing crops, compensation or trees, houses etc. and total amount of compensation awarded separately for the land, trees, houses and crops etc. The learned counsel appearing for other claimants have adopted the arguments of Mr. G.D. Verma, Senior Advocate and added no further submissions. 9. on the land or area of standing crops, compensation or trees, houses etc. and total amount of compensation awarded separately for the land, trees, houses and crops etc. The learned counsel appearing for other claimants have adopted the arguments of Mr. G.D. Verma, Senior Advocate and added no further submissions. 9. We have carefully considered the contentions of the learned counsel and examined the legal issue involved in these appeals in the teeth of the Standing Order No. 28. A mere reading of various provisions of Standing Order noticed above relevant to the controversy involved in these appeals, unmistakably show that the State Govt. and the Land Acquisition Collector have been following these provisions scrupulously and strictly in the land acquisition proceedings and the Land Acquisition Collectors have made awards consistently in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Standing Orders for assessing the market value of the land, trees and houses etc. separately. The courts below therefore also enhanced the compensation separately for lands and fruit bearing trees adopting the same pattern. The Land Acquisition Collector and State Govt. are both bound to apply and follow their circulars/instructions in letter and spirit without raising hesitation. We have also noticed that the Land Acquisition Collectors have been relying upon Harbans Singh formula for assessing the compensation of the fruit bearing trees. Since both the parties are not disputing that the basis for determining the compensation for fruit bearing trees is Harbans Singh formula, the controversy is that how much increase should be allowed over the assessment of compensation made by the District Judge and Addl. District Judges keeping in view the rise in prices from the year when the said formula was prepared and adopted. This formula is contained in article The Evaluation of Fruit Trees, Basic Principles and Method written by Sh.Harbans Singh the then Director of Horticulture, Himachal Pradesh, which was duly approved by the Directors of Agriculture, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh for the purposes of assessment of market value of fruit trees. 10. The State Govt. have compiled and adopted the H.P. Land Records Manual under which detailed procedure and duties of the Revenue Officers have been mentioned. Under para 28.9 of the Manual, the duty is cast upon the Revenue Officer to examine the report submitted by the Patwari and calculate the income of the cultivated, un-cultivated lands and fruit bearing trees. The State Govt. have compiled and adopted the H.P. Land Records Manual under which detailed procedure and duties of the Revenue Officers have been mentioned. Under para 28.9 of the Manual, the duty is cast upon the Revenue Officer to examine the report submitted by the Patwari and calculate the income of the cultivated, un-cultivated lands and fruit bearing trees. The Competent Revenue Officer shall assess the income of the cultivated lands on the basis of farm prices multiplied by product figures of different crops. The competent Revenue Officer shall assess the income of horticulture on the basis of the age and kind of the fruit bearing plants according to formula evolved and approved by the Government of Himachal Pradesh as per Appendix C’ of para 28. In Appendix C extract is taken from The Evaluation of fruit Trees, Basic Principles and Method1 by Shri Harbans Singh. Appendix C’ also contains classification of the fruit trees which have been broadly divided in six categories and each category or class has been assigned separate value depending upon the average income that the trees are likely to yield. The formula also contains final assessment of tree which reads as under: "Most of the factors affecting the value of a tree have been elucidated. It would appear that the value of a tree at a particular time will be the sum total of the basic value, income from the remaining bearing years of the tree and fuel value. There is another important factor which cannot escape attention. The owner of the tree will get payment for the future bearing capacity of the tree in one lot without incurring any expenditure on his tree, disposal of fruit etc. for the remaining bearing years. Normally he would have got income in yearly instalments spread over a long period. There are obvious advantages and benefits in getting the income of all the future years in one lot. Such a compensation will be not justifiable. Keeping all these factors into consideration it has been felt that the value of the remaining bearing age of a tree may be reduced to 25 per cent. This will do justice to the owner of the tree getting the compensation and the agency paying the price in one lot. Such a compensation will be not justifiable. Keeping all these factors into consideration it has been felt that the value of the remaining bearing age of a tree may be reduced to 25 per cent. This will do justice to the owner of the tree getting the compensation and the agency paying the price in one lot. The final formula will thus be as follows: Basic value + of the tree |No. of remaining X bearing years Income per X1/4 year + Fuel value A ten year old class 1 apple tree will thus be assessed as follows: A. Basic value: An apple tree comes into bearing in the 6th year and as such it remains in sapling stage for 5 years (SL No.1 Col.5 of appendix). (a) Non recurring expenditure: Rs. 5.00 (Col. 3 of appendix). (b) Recurring expenditure for 5 years at the rate of Rs. 5/- per years : Rs. 29.00 (Col.4 of appendix) or say total basic value 5 + (5X5) = Rs. 30.00 B. Assessment of Remaining Bearing Age: 11. A ten year old apple tree has already completed five years of bearing life. Average bearing life of an apple tree is 45 years (Col. 6 of appendix). Having borne fruit for five years the tree is expected to bear for another 40 years. A class I apple tree will give an yearly income of Rs. 100 per year (Col.7 of appendix). Thus the tree will give a total gross income of Rs. 4000.00 during the remaining years of its bearing life. Future expenditure and payment in one lot will reduce the amount by one fourth to Rs. 1000.00 or in other words (40X100X1/4) = Rs. 1000." 12. The Director of the Horticulture of the State Government while % assessing the market value of the fruit bearing trees has been adopting the formula of Shri Harbans Singh. The Land Acquisition Collectors of the State have applied and adopted the same formula in awarding compensation of the fruit bearing trees separately. !n these factual position and circumstances, the State of Himachal Pradesh and the Land Acquisition Collector cannot be permitted to urge that they are not obliged to pay the amount of compensation on the basis of the Standing Order No. 28 and Shri Harbans Singh formula for acquired lands and fruit bearing tees separately. !n these factual position and circumstances, the State of Himachal Pradesh and the Land Acquisition Collector cannot be permitted to urge that they are not obliged to pay the amount of compensation on the basis of the Standing Order No. 28 and Shri Harbans Singh formula for acquired lands and fruit bearing tees separately. The Land Acquisition Collector is the agent of the State Government who makes offer to the claimants of the amount of compensation awarded in the awards t and if the offer so made is not acceptable to the claimants, the claimants are entitled to receive the amount of compensation under protest and make j reference petitions under Section 18 of the Act for enhancement of the amount n of compensation. Therefore, the State Govt. and the Land Acquisition Collector, who are appellants before us in these appeals cannot be permitted to raise the plea that the awards of the Collector and enhancement of the amount of compensation by the District Judges and Additional District Judges based upon the Government Standing Order, provisions contained in the Himachal Pradesh Land Records Manual and Shri Harbans Singh formula which allow compensation in respect of the land and fruit bearing trees separately. Nothing contrary has been brought to our notice and, therefore we do not think it proper to disturb the awards of the Courts below making enhancement of the amount of compensation for the land and the fruit bearing trees separately. These cases are squarely covered by the ratio of the judgment of the apex Court in State of J&K Vs. Mohammad Mateen Wani and others (Supra) and we do not find any merit in these appeals filed by the State and the Land Acquisition Collector challenging the awards on the grounds of assessment of compensation for lands and fruit trees separately. 13. In two appeals (RFA. Nos. 151/93 and 179/93) the claimants have filed cross-objections and Smt. Yashodha Devi and others have also filed RFA. No. 187/93 separately seeking for enhancement of the amount of compensation awarded by the courts below. 13. In two appeals (RFA. Nos. 151/93 and 179/93) the claimants have filed cross-objections and Smt. Yashodha Devi and others have also filed RFA. No. 187/93 separately seeking for enhancement of the amount of compensation awarded by the courts below. We have gone through the entire oral and documentary evidence on record and we find that the claimants could not lead cogent and convincing evidence to prove that they are entitled to more amounts of compensation than the one awarded by the courts below and therefore, we find no substance in the cross-objections and appeals of those claimants and they are also dismissed. 14. During the hearing of these appeals we are informed by the learned counsel for the claimants in RFA.Nos.232/93,302/92 and 351/92 that some of the respondents in those appeals have since died. Since we are only dismissing the appeals of the appellants filed against these claimants even or merits of the contentions raised. We are of the view that the dismissal of the appeals of the appellants will not prejudice the right of the legal representatives of deceased respondents claimants even though they are not before us. However, the legal representatives of those respondents-claimants are entitled to make application for apportionment of the amount of compensation proportionate to their shares in these appeals and as and when those applications will be filed, appropriate orders will be passed by the courts in accordance with law. No other point has been urged by the learned counsel on either side. In the result, for the above said reasons these appeals and cross objections are accordingly dismissed. The parties are left to bear their own costs. The miscellaneous applications, if any, pending in these appeals shall also stand disposed of.