SPECIAL LAND ACQUISITION OFFICER Vs. RABARI JALABEN JAYMALBHAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The abovenumbered Appeals filed under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 ("the Act" for short) read with Section 96 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, are directed against the common judgment dated April 30, 2005, rendered by the learned Joint District Judge and 4th Fast Track Court, Patan, in Land Acquisition Reference Case Nos.716/2002 to 728/2002, by which the claimants are awarded additional compensation at the rate of Rs.24/- per sq.mt. over and above the compensation awarded to them by the Special Land Acquisition Officer by his award dated July 28, 1998, at the rate of Rs.3.10 ps. per sq.mt., for their acquired lands.

(2.) A proposal was received by the State Government to acquire the lands of village Dhanpura, Taluka: Becharaji, District: Patan, for the public purpose of Narmada Canal Project. On consideration of the said proposal, the State Government was satisfied that the lands of village Dhanpura were likely to be needed for the said public purpose. Therefore, a notification under Section 4(1) of the Act was issued which was published in the official gazette on November 19, 1996. The land owners were thereafter served with notices under Section 4 of the Act. They objected to the proposed acquisition. After considering their objections, a report was forwarded by the Special Land Acquisition Officer to the State Government as contemplated by Section 5A(2) of the Act. On scrutiny of the said report, the State Government was satisfied that the lands of village Dhanpura specified in the notification published under Section 4(1) of the Act were needed for the public purpose of Narmada Canal Project. Therefore, a declaration under Section 6 of the Act was made which was published in the official gazette on July 1, 1997. The interested persons were thereafter served with notices under Section 9 of the Act for determination of compensation payable to them. The claimants appeared before the Special Land Acquisition Officer and claimed compensation at the rate of Rs.30/- per sq.mt. However, having regard to the materials placed before him, the Special Land Acquisition Officer, by his award dated July 28, 1998, offered compensation to the claimants at the rate of Rs.3.10 ps. per sq.mt. The claimants were of the opinion that the offer of compensation made by the Special Land Acquisition Officer was totally inadequate. Therefore, they submitted applications dated August 3, 1998, requiring the Special Land Acquisition Officer to refer the matter to the Court for the purpose of determination of just amount of compensation payable to them. Accordingly References were made to the District Court, Mehsana, which were registered as Land Acquisition Reference Case Nos.177/1999 to 189/1999. It may be mentioned that somewhere in the year 2002, a separate District of Patan was formed by the State Government and it was directed that Taluka Becharaji would be one of the Talukas which would be included in District Patan. Therefore, the References were transferred from Mehsana Court to Patan Court whereupon, they were registered as Land Acquisition Reference Case Nos.716/2002 to 728/2002. On behalf of the claimants, the testimony of witness Prabhatbhai Vershibhai Rabari was recorded at Ex.31 whereas on behalf of the acquiring authorities, the testimony of witness Jagdipkumar Keshavlal Vaidhya, who was then the Deputy Executive Engineer, was recorded at Ex.40 and the testimony of witness Rameshbhai Kacharabhai Prajapati, who was then discharging duties in the office of the Special Land Acquisition Officer, Narmada Yojna, Mehsana, was recorded at Ex.42. The witness examined on behalf of the claimants produced previous award of the Reference Court relating to the lands of village Virsoda, Taluka: Mehsana, rendered in Land Acquisition Reference Nos.134/1997 to 145/1997, on November 29, 2001, in support of enhanced compensation claimed by the claimants. In the said case, notification under Section 4 of the Act was published in the official gazette on August 5, 1994, for acquiring the lands of village Virsoda for the public purpose of Narmada Canal and the District court had awarded in all compensation to the claimants of the said case at the rate of Rs.24/- per sq.mt. After taking into consideration the said award, the Reference Court, in the instant case, was of the opinion that the previous award of the Reference Court relating to the lands of village Virsoda furnished good guidance for the purpose of determining the market value of the lands acquired in the instant case. In ultimate analysis, the learned Judge was of the opinion that the claimants were entitled to additional compensation at the rate of Rs.24/- per sq.mt. Therefore, the Reference Court has awarded in all compensation at the rate of Rs.27.10 ps. per sq.mt. by common judgment and award dated April 30, 2005, giving rise to the abovenumbered Appeals.

(3.) This Court has heard Mr.S.S.Shah, learned Government Pleader with Mr.Krunal D.Pandya, learned Assistant Government Pleader, for the appellants and Mr.A.J.Patel, learned Senior Advocate for the claimants, at length and in great detail. This Court has also considered the paper-book supplied by the learned counsel for the claimants for perusal of the Court.