ISHWAR SINGH Vs. UOI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) COMMON questions of fact and law arise for consideration in all these appeals which were heard together and shall stand disposed of by this common order. The factual backdrop, in which references under Section 18 of the Land acquisition Act were made for determination of the compensation payable to the expropriated land owners may be briefly set out as under:

(2.) A large extent of 316 bighas and 13 biswas of land situated in Village nilothi was notified for acquisition under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act as early as on 6th January, 1995. The acquisition was for the public purpose of construction of a sewage treatment plant. The preliminary notification was followed by a declaration under Section 6 on 6th and 9th March, 1995. An award dated 12th December, 1996 made by the Collector, Land Acquisition determined the compensation payable to the land owners at Rs. 96,875/- per bighas with proportionate statutory benefits. Dissatisfied with the said amount, the land owners demanded references to the Civil Court for determination of the true market value for the land acquired from their ownership. The references were made giving rise to three distinct issues which the learned Reference Court framed in the following words: 1]. Whether the provisions of the Delhi Land Reforms Act is (are)applicable to the land in dispute" If so, to what effect" 2]. To what enhancement, if any the claimant is entitled to" 3]. Whether the claimants are entitled to compensation for tube wells, rooms, water tanks, water channel etc. as claimed" 4]. Relief"

(3.) IN support of their claim for enhancement of compensation, the appellants examined the following 10 witnesses viz; Sh. Amit Garg, Sh. Syed shabuddin, Sh. Rattan Lal, UDC from DDA, Sh. Ishwar Singh, Sh. Depender Kumar, halka Patwari, Sh. Suresh Kumar (registered valuer), Sh. Ishwar Singh, Asstt. , land and Building Deptt. , Sh. M. C. Sharma, Patwari (DDA), Sh. Surinder Singh, patwari (DJB) and Sh. M. R. M. Rao, Director Land Management (DDA ). They also placed reliance upon comparable sale transactions proximate in point of time for similar parcels of land situated in the vicinity of the land in question, evidenced by sale deeds (marked exhibits 1/a, 2/a and 4/a ). In addition they relied upon notifications issued by the Land and Building Department of the government of N. C. T. Of Delhi (marked exhibit PW 7/1, 7/2 and 7/3) fixing the minimum price for agricultural land in the Union Territory of Delhi other than that situated on the river bed. Reliance was also placed upon an order marked ex. PW-3/1 by which three sites situate in Najafgarh Town area were transferred by the Delhi Development Authority to the Delhi Jal Board upon payment of premium and ground rent. In rebuttal, the respondents relied upon two sale deeds marked Exhibit R-1 to R-3 regarding land in village Nilothi apart from the award made by the Collector.