STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH Vs. RAM SWARUP

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These appeals by the State of Uttar Pradesh have been filed in this court on the basis of certificate granted by the High court of allahabad under Article 133 (1) (a) of the Constitution in respect of proceedings arising out of acquisition of land of the various respondents under the land Acquisition Act (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"). Seven plots of land with an area of 84,2092 sq. ft. in the city of Lucknow were acquired for public purpose. The land is situated by the side of Murtaza Hussain Road. Originally, the land belonged to the respondents in Civil No. 756 of 1967. The respondents in the other three Civil are transferees from these respondents. Those transfers were made by sale-deeds executed on 6/12/1955, after the intention of the government about the acquisitions had become known to the respondents in view of steps taken for survey in November, 1955. The sale-deeds have, however, been recognisedby the courts and the compensation in respect of the areas covered by the sale-deeds has been granted to the purchasers. These sale-deeds were not accepted as exemplars by any of the courts for determining the compensation payable for the land acquired.

(2.) The Land Acquisition Officer awarded a sum of Rs. 31,534.50 P. for the whole of the area acquired, valuing it at the rate of Annas-/6. 00 per sq. ft. Thereupon, the respondents moved applications under S. 18 of the Act and, references were made to the District Judge. These references came for decision under S. 23 of the Act before the Civil Judge who exercised delegated powers as District Judge under the Act. Before the Civil judge, reliance was placed by the respondents, in order to prove the fair amount of compensation, on two sale-deeds Ex-s. 1 and 2 executed by dr. K. S. Nigam in favour of Smt. Ram Lali and Nand Kishore Avasthi on 13/09/1956 and 10/10/1956, respectively. In the saledeed Ext. 1, an area of 784 sq. ft. was sold for a sum of Rs. 2,700. 00 while, in the other sale-deed Ext. 2, an area of 990 sq. ft. was sold for a sum of rs. 3,000. 00. The Civil Judge also held that Dr. Nigam had made certain constructions before transferring these plots to Smt. Ram Lali and Nand kishore Avasthi. These constructions consisted of foundations for construction of walls and of some of the walls constructed up to a very small height. These two plots adjoined another third plot belonging to Dr. Nigam. According to the evidence of Dr. Nigam, which was accepted, a sum of rs. 4,000. 00 was spent on the constructions in all the three plots, so that the civil Judge held that a sum of Rs. 1,333. 00 was spent on constructions in each of these two plots which were the subject-matter of the sale-deeds exts. 1 and 2. He treated the sale consideration as including value of the constructions to the extent of Rs. 1,333. 00 and, after deducting these amounts from the sale price, he worked out the average rate of the land sold by Dr. Nigam at Rs. 1.75 P. per sq. ft. He also took into account the fact that the two plots sold by Dr. Nigaro were abutting the main Murtaza Hussain road and were 32 ft. wide from the edge of the road. Consequently, in working out the valuation of the land acquired which had much larger area, he divided the land into two belts. The first belt of a width of 50 ft. was considered by him to be comparable with the land sold by Dr. Nigam and hence, he applied the rate of Rs. 1.75 P. per sq. ft. to this land. The rest of the land was treated as being in a second belt away from the road and he reduced the rate for working out its compensation in the proportion of 7: 4, so that he valued the rest of this land at R. 1. 00 per sq. ft. Further, he deducted from the whole area 25 per cent. in making the valuation as being land required for providing amenities, such as roads, lanes, parks, etc. The total amount awarded between all the respondents by the Civil judge on this basis was Rs. 71,844. 00.

(3.) The respondents appealed to the High court. The High court approved the decision of the Civil Judge to treat the sale-deeds Exts. 1 and 2 as appropriate exemplars, but varied the method of calculation in some respects. The High court held that the constructions, which were made, were of no use at all to the purchasers and, hence, the Civil Judge was not justified in deducting their price from the sale consideration when working out the rate at which the land was sold in these two sale-deeds. The High court, consequently, calculated that the average rate at which the land was old in these two sale-deeds came to Rs. 3.27 per sq. ft. The High court reduced it to Rs. 3. 00 per sq. ft. on the ground that Rs. 27. 00. per sq. ft. may represent the value of the material of the constructions which must have become available to the purchasers when they started new constructions anddemolished the constructions already made by Dr. Nigam. The High court further held that the Civil Judge was not justified in deducting 25 per cent. for roads, lanes, parks, etc. from the entire land acquired and that there was justification for doing so only in respect of the land situated in the second belt. So far as the first belt is concerned the High court was of the view that only one single road 20 ft. wide needed to be constructed in the land covered by this belt, so that the only area required for roads would be 20 ft. x 50 ft. Out of the area of the first belt, therefore, the High court permitted deduction of only 1,000. 00 sq. ft. as land needed for roads, etc. while, in the rest, the High court approved of the deduction of 25 per cent. made by the Civil Judge. The High court further worked out the rate for the land in the second belt by reducing the price of Rs. 3. 00 per sq. ft. in the proportion of 7 : 4 which gave a rate of Rs. 1.71 P per sq. ft. On this basis, the total amount awarded by the High court between the various respondents came to Rs. 1,31,641. 00. It is against this judgment of the High court that the State government has come up to this court in these appeals.