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2009 DIGILAW 645 (PNJ)

Mrs. Avtar Sachdev v. Union Territory, Chandigarh

2009-04-02

RAJESH BINDAL

body2009
Judgment Rajesh Bindal, J. 1. This order will dispose of a bunch of 394 appeals, as common questions of law and facts are involved. 2. RF.A. Nos.896, 989 to 1009, 1215 to 1231, 1393 to 1397, 1399, 1400, 1407, 1408, 1445, 2440, 2441 of 2005, 124, 125, 194 to 198, 478, 548 to 556, 1156 to 1158, 1244, 1762, 1879, 2055, 2056, 4238, 4301, 4356, 4396 to 4398, 4453 to 4458, 4464, 4479, 4480, 4515 to 4519, 4643, 4648, 4667 of 2006, 51, 62, 63, 73 to 77, 136, 149, 154, 197, 326, 364, 368, 374, 376, 420 to 424, 738, 796, 1094, 1587, 1666 to 1668, 1690 to 1692, 236.8, 2770 to 2772, 2965 to 2978, 3017 to 3020, 3026, 3027, 3062, 3071, 3072, 3101 to 3103, 3408 to 3413, 3788, 3789, 3794 of 2007 and 3522 of 2008 have been filed by the land owners seeking further enhancement of compensation for the acquired land. 3. R.F.A. Nos.1447 to 1451, 1453 to 1459, 1461, 1464, 1466 to 1470, 1474, 1475, 1477 to 1496, 1500, 1501, 1502, 1600,1604, 1606, 1612, 1685 of 2005, 3724 to 3727, 3729 to 3735, 3737, 3738, 3740 and 3741 of 2006, 377 to 419, 1067, 2081 to 2106, 2267 to 2269, 3118 to 3152, 3483 to 3513, 3515 to 3524, 3526, 3625 to 3633 of 2007 have been filed by Union Territory/Union of India seeking reduction of compensation awarded by the learned court below. 4. In R.F.A. Nos.381 and 2087 of 2007, the land owners have filed cross objections seeking further enhancement of the compensation for the acquired land. 5. Briefly, the facts are that land measuring 114.43, 71.69 acres and 42.95 acres, situated in villages Kajheri, Badheri and Palsora respectively was acquired vide notification dated 3.8.1999, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, the Act) for development of third phase of Chandigarh. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, the Collector) awarded compensation @ Rs.l 1,95,198/- per acre. Aggrieved against the same, the land owners filed objections which were referred to the learned Additional District Judge, Chandigarh, who keeping in view the material placed on record by the parties, determined the market value of the acquired @ Rs.l5,05,000/- per acre. 6. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, the Collector) awarded compensation @ Rs.l 1,95,198/- per acre. Aggrieved against the same, the land owners filed objections which were referred to the learned Additional District Judge, Chandigarh, who keeping in view the material placed on record by the parties, determined the market value of the acquired @ Rs.l5,05,000/- per acre. 6. Vide another notification dated 4.5.2000, issued under Section 4 of the Act, land measuring 116.231 acres, situated in villages Kajheri and Nizampur Kumbran and adjoining land was also acquired for development of third phase of Chandigarh. The Collector awarded a sum of Rs.l3,05,776/- per acre for Chahi, Barani, Gair Mumkin and Banjar Qadim kinds of land and Rs.5,44,075/- per acre for Gair Mumkin Khadaan and Choe etc. Aggrieved against the same, the land owners filed objections which were referred to the learned Additional District Judge, Chandigarh, who keeping in view the material placed on record by the parties, determined me market value of the acquired land @ Rs.l6,40,450/-per acre. 7. Learned counsel for the land owners submitted that acquisition in the present case was carried out for the purpose of utilisation as residential and commercial area in third phase of Chandigarh. Practically, there was no land left out in the area after the present acquisition. In fact, the entire land had already been acquired and developed. The area of Mohali abutting third phase of Chandigarh was already developed. For the acquisition carried out vide notification dated 20.8.1998 for the land falling in the same area pertaining to the same villages, this Court in R.F.A. No.3921 of 2007-Arunash Chander Kaushik and others v. Union Territory, Chandigarh, decided on 10.2.2009, had assessed the market value of the acquired land at Rs. 17,32,000/- per acre. There is a gap of one year, 8 months and 14 days in the two acquisitions. For this intervening period, the land owners should be granted increase at least @ 12% per annum. He further submitted that increase in the value of the land in Chandigarh and its periphery was at much more rate. Reference was made to the facts noticed by the learned court below in paragraph 8 of the impugned award to submit that vide letter (Ex.Pl) dated 16.8.1991, Chandigarh Administration allotted land to Chandigarh Housing Board @ Rs.500/- per square yard as such. Reference was made to the facts noticed by the learned court below in paragraph 8 of the impugned award to submit that vide letter (Ex.Pl) dated 16.8.1991, Chandigarh Administration allotted land to Chandigarh Housing Board @ Rs.500/- per square yard as such. After external development, Chandigarh Housing Board allotted the same to Co-operative House Building Societies @ Rs.750/- per square yard. Subsequently, Chandigarh Housing Board allotted land to Cooperative Housing Building Societies @ Rs.2,500/- per square yard vide letter (Ex.P6) dated 11.4.2000. Vide letter (Ex.P5) dated 23.1.2002, Chandigarh Housing Board allotted the land to the Cooperative House Building Societies @ Rs.2,850/- per square yard. 8. As far as acquisition carried out vide notification dated 3.8.1999 is concerned, it is not in dispute that the same was for development of third phase of Chandigarh. The learned court below relied upon award (Ex.P32) pertaining to the acquisition of land vide notification dated 3.7.1997 and also referred to award (Ex.P33), where the acquisition under consideration was dated 28.8.1998. The learned court below in the aforesaid awards had determined the fair value of the acquired land at Rs.12,00,000/- per acre and Rs. 13,44,000/- per acre respectively. Granting increase of 12% for the time gap in the notifications, the value of the acquired land in the present case was determined at Rs.15,05,000/- per acre. It was submitted that for the acquisition carried out vide notification dated 3.7.1997, this Court in R.F.A. No.727 of 2001 Narinder Singh v. Union Territory, Chandigarh, 1 decided on 4.2.2009 had further increased the amount of compensation to Rs. 15,46,450/- per acre and for the acquisition carried out vide notification dated 20.8.1998, this Court in R.F.A. No.3921 of 2007-Arunash Chander Kaushik and others v. Union Territory, Chandigarh,2 decided on 10.2.2009, enhanced the same further to Rs. 17,32,000/- per acre. 9. On the other hand, learned counsel for Union Territory submitted that the award pertaining to the earlier acquisition of land should not be relied upon as such for determination of fair value of the acquired land. The land owners should have produced independent evidence to show the value of the land in the area at the time of acquisition. The principle of granting compensation at the flat rate should not be followed as such. He further submitted that the Collector had granted different compensation for the land which was plain and which was Gair Mumkin Khadan/Choe. The land owners should have produced independent evidence to show the value of the land in the area at the time of acquisition. The principle of granting compensation at the flat rate should not be followed as such. He further submitted that the Collector had granted different compensation for the land which was plain and which was Gair Mumkin Khadan/Choe. However, without there being any evidence on record, the learned court below assessed the same amount of compensation for both the qualities of land which deserves to be set aside. 10. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. 11. As far as location of the land is concerned, the same is not in dispute. It was acquired for development as third phase of Union Territory, Chandigarh, which is sandwiched between the already developed area of Chandigarh on one side and Mohali on the other side. The land in this belt was acquired vide various notifications issued from time to time. This Court in Arunash Chander Kaushiks case (supra) had determined the fair value of the land acquired for the purpose vide notification dated 20.8.1998 at Rs.17,32,000/- per acre. Part of the land in the aforesaid case pertained to village Kajheri. In the present case, the acquisition was carried out vide two notifications dated 3.8.1999 and 4.5.2000. The learned court below had determined the compensation relying upon the earlier awards pertaining to the acquisition for third phase. This Court had further enhanced the compensation payable to the land owners for the acquisition of land for development of third phase of Chandigarh vide notification dated 20.8.1998. In my opinion, the land owners herein are entitled to further increase thereon @ 12% per annum, considering the appreciation of prices in the area during the intervening period, as has already been noticed above. Accordingly, for the acquisition carried out vide notification dated 3.8.1999, the amount of compensation is determined at Rs.19,40,200/- per acre after granting increase of 12% on Rs.17,32,000/- per acre and for the acquisition carried out vide notification dated 4.5.2000, after granting increase @ 12%, the amount of compensation is determined at Rs.20,78,400/- per acre. The land owners shall also be entitled to all statutory benefits available under the Act. 12. The land owners shall also be entitled to all statutory benefits available under the Act. 12. As far as contention of learned counsel for Union Territory regarding the finding of the learned court below in granting same amount of compensation for the land forming part of Gair Mumkin Nadi, Choe and Khadan is concerned, I find merit in the submissions made. A perusal of the site plan shows that a part of the acquired land is in fact Gair Mumkin Nadi/Choe, which is running throughout the territory of Chandigarh starting from Sector 3 and passing through Sectors 10, 16, 23, 36, 42, 53, 52, 51, 62, 63, 68, 67 and 66. The submission of learned counsel for the land owners that in fact the land owners were using the land for agricultural purposes has no legs to stand as no material to that effect was produced on record. The contention that no jamabandi was prepared in Chandigarh for quite some time is not relevant as the land owners have not produced on record even the latest khasra girdawaris to substantiate their claim. The site plan of Chandigarh shows that in fact the land, which was forming part of Gair Mumkin Nadi/Choe was left as such along with other area in the vicinity as green belt and even now the water flows through that. Considering the aforesaid facts, in my opinion, the award of same amount of compensation for the land which was forming part of Gair Mumkin Nadi/Choe cannot be justified on any reason whatsoever. The issue regarding valuation of the land forming part of Gair Mumkin Nadi/Choe was considered by this Court in Arunash Chander Kaushiks case (supra) for the acquisition carried out vide notification dated 20.8.1998 pertaining to the acquisition of land for third phase of Chandigarh and the same was assessed at Rs.7,21,700/- per acre. In my opinion, the land owners in the present case are also entitled to increase at the same rate as has been granted for other quality of land and by adding 12% thereon for the land acquired vide notification dated 3.8.1999, the value of the land forming part of Gair Mumkin Nadi/Choe is assessed at Rs.8,08,300/- per acre, whereas for the land acquired vide notification dated 4.5.2000, the same is assessed at Ks.8,66,000/- per acre. The award of the learned court below is modified to that extent. The award of the learned court below is modified to that extent. The land owners shall also be entitled to all statutory benefits available under the Act. The appeals and the cross objections are disposed of in the manner indicated above. R.M.S. Appeal disposed of.