GENERAL MANAGER Vs. KHODABHAI VISHRAMBHAI SUTHAR HASMUKHBHAI KHODABHAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All these 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 common judgment and award dated May 7, 2004, rendered by the learned Civil Judge (S.D.) Bharuch in Land Acquisition Reference Case Nos.2177 to 2190 of 1997, by which the claimants have been awarded additional amount of compensation at the rate of Rs.33/- per sq.mt. for their acquired lands over and above the compensation offered to them at the rate of Rs.2/- per sq.mt. by the Special Land Acquisition Officer vide Award dated April 11, 1997.

(2.) The General Manager, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd., Ankleshwar proposed to the State Government to acquire certain parcels of land of village Denva, Taluka : Amod, District : Bharuch for the public purpose of construction of Gas Gathering Station at Gandhar to be set up by O.N.G.C. and construction of approach-road thereto. On consideration of the same, the State Government was satisfied that the lands of village Denva mentioned therein were likely to be needed for the said public purpose. Therefore, notification under Section 4 of the Act was issued, which was published in the Official Gazette on April 30, 1994. The owners, whose lands were proposed to be acquired, were served with notices and an inquiry was conducted as required by law. On conclusion of inquiry, report as contemplated by Section 5A(2) of the Act was forwarded by the Special Land Acquisition Officer to the State Government. On the basis of the said report, a declaration under Section 6 of the Act was made, which was published in the Official Gazette on April 15, 1995. The interested persons were thereafter served with notices for determination of compensation payable to them. Accordingly, the claimants appeared before the Special Land Acquisition Officer and claimed compensation at the rate of Rs.50/- per sq.mt. However, having regard to the materials placed before him, the Special Land Acquisition Officer by his Award dated April 11, 1997 offered compensation to them at the rate of Rs.2/- per sq.mt. The claimants were of the opinion that the offer of compensation made to them was totally inadequate. Therefore, they submitted applications under Section 18 of the Act requiring the Special Land Acquisition Officer to refer their cases to the Court for the purpose of determining just amount of compensation payable to them. Accordingly, references were made to the District Court at Bharuch, where they were registered as noticed earlier.

(3.) On behalf of the claimants, witness Devdattbhai Ishwarbhai Vasava was examined at Exh.34. After giving particulars of the lands acquired, the witness mentioned before the Court that the lands acquired were highly fertile and that each claimant was able to raise 20 to 22 quintals of cotton per Acre, which was being sold to Bharuch District Co.op. Cotton Sale, Ginning and Processing Society Ltd. as well as Vilayat Group Co.op. Agricultural Produces Processing and Marketing Society Ltd. Derol. The witness maintained that from the sale of cotton, each claimant was able to earn net income of Rs.23,200/- to Rs.25,400/- per Acre per year. The witness also stated before the Court that in other seasons, the claimants were growing juvar, from the sale of which they were earning net income of Rs.8,000/- to Rs.10,000/- per Acre. In support of his claim that the lands acquired were highly fertile, the witness produced copy of Village Form 7/12 at Exhs.24 to 27. The witness further maintained before the Court that village Chanchvel was situated at a distance of half a kilometer from his village Denva, and that the boundaries of both the villages were common. In order to substantiate this claim, the witness produced map at Exh.33. The witness further mentioned before the Court that lands of village Chanchvel were acquired for the public purpose of Central Process Facility at Gandhar Complex, for which notification under Section 4 of the Act was published in the Official Gazette on July 8, 1990. According to the said witness, in those cases also less amount of compensation was offered by the Special Land Acquisition Officer and, therefore, the claimants had sought references, as a result of which, the learned Civil Judge (S.D.) Bharuch had awarded compensation to the claimants of those cases at the rate of Rs.25/- per sq.mt. To support this claim, the witness produced previous award of the Reference Court relating to the lands of village Chanchvel at Exh.28. According to this witness, feeling aggrieved by the aforesaid award, O.N.G.C. had filed First Appeal Nos. 1230 to 1238 of 2000, which were dismissed by the High Court. To substantiate this claim, the witness produced certified copy of the judgment of the High Court at Exh.29. The witness further mentioned before the Court that feeling aggrieved by the judgment of the High Court, O.N.G.C. had filed petitions for Special Leave to Appeal (Civil) Nos.7570-7578/2001 before the Supreme Court, but, the Supreme Court had also dismissed the same. To support this claim, the witness produced a copy of the order passed by the Supreme Court at Exh.32. The witness asserted in no uncertain terms before the Court that the lands which were acquired from village Chanchvel were similar in all respects, including fertility, to the lands acquired in the instant cases. According to this witness, village Rozatankariya was situated at a distance of one kilometer from his village Denva and that the lands of village Rozatankariya were also acquired for the public purpose of Central Process Facility, Gandhar pursuant to publication of notification issued under Section 4(1) of the Act in the Official Gazette on April 5, 1990. The witness informed the Court that in those cases, award under Section 11 of the Act was made by the Special Land Acquisition Officer on February 26, 1993 and that the claimants were offered compensation at the rate of Rs.3/- per sq.mt. According to this witness, feeling aggrieved, the claimants, whose lands were acquired from village Rozatankariya, had sought references and accordingly, references were made to the District Court, Bharuch. The witness stated that the Reference Court had granted additional amount of compensation to the claimants in those cases at the rate of Rs.22/- per sq.mt. To substantiate this claim, the witness produced previous award of the Reference Court relating to the lands of village Rozatankariya at Exh.30. The witness further informed the Court that feeling aggrieved by the said award, O.N.G.C. had filed First Appeal Nos.3108 to 3122 of 2000, which were dismissed by the High Court vide judgment dated November 27, 2000. To support this claim, the witness produced copy of judgment of the High Court delivered in First Appeal Nos.3108 to 3121 of 2000 with First Appeal Nos.3122 to 3132 of 2000 at Exh.31. The witness also informed the Court that feeling aggrieved, O.N.G.C. had approached the Supreme Court by filing petitions for Special Leave to Appeal (Civil) Nos.7570-7578/2001, but, those petitions were dismissed by the Supreme Court. To substantiate this claim, the witness produced certified copy of the order passed by the Supreme Court at Exh.32. The witness in no uncertain terms maintained before the Court that the lands, which were acquired from village Rozatankariya were also similar, in all respects including fertility, to the lands acquired in the instant cases. According to this witness, lands acquired in the instant cases were situated quite near Amod-Dahej State Highway as well as Amod-Jambusar State Highway and that the area in the vicinity was fully developed.