SOMAN Vs. INLAND WATERWAYS AUTHORITY OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Delay condoned. Leave granted in Special Leave Petition No. 387 of 2013. :

(2.) Facts of Civil Appeal Nos. 2825 to 2827 of 2011 are more or less identical. The relevant factual aspects in nutshell are as under:

(3.) In Civil Appeal arising out of Special Leave Petition No. 387 of 2013, the Land Acquisition Officer while making an award under Sec. 11 of the said Act categorized the acquired lands into six categories. Category 'A' was of the dry lands having direct frontage on National Highway No.47. Category 'B' was of the wet reclaimed lands with road frontage and access to the river through a reclaimed portion of the river, Category 'C' was of the reclaimed wetlands having river frontage, Category 'D' was of the lands with thodu and chira having road frontage, Category 'E' was of the wetlands with thodu and chira having access to the river through reclaimed portion and Category 'F' was of the lands covered by private roads or common drainage. In the present case, we are concerned with Category 'B' lands for which the market value of Rs.85,543.00 was fixed under Sec. 11 of the said Act. At the instance of the appellants, a Reference under Sec. 18(1) of the said Act was filed. The Reference Court fixed the land value of the acquired land subject matter of the appeal at Rs.1,20,000.00 per Are. This market value was fixed on the basis of the land value fixed for Category 'C' lands by adding 5% to the value fixed for Category 'C'. The High Court in Appeal decided the value of lands falling in Categories 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D' and 'E' by adopting formula 100:52:48:43:39. The land value of the land in Category 'B' was fixed by the High Court at Rs.1,50,000.00 per Are. This was done in the appeal preferred by the landowners.