EXECUTIVE ENGINEER Vs. THAKOR SATUJI GHEMARJI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By filing these appeals under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 ( Sthe Act for short) read with Section 96 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the appellants have challenged legality of common judgment and award dated September 2, 2005, rendered by the learned Principal Senior Civil Judge, Mehsana in Land Reference Case Nos. 947 to 957 of 2003, by which the claimants have been awarded additional amount of compensation at the rate of Rs.171.05 Ps. per sq.mt. for their acquired lands, in addition to compensation offered to them at the rate of Rs.8.95 Ps. per sq.mt. by the Special Land Acquisition Officer vide award dated February 13,2003.

(2.) The Executive Engineer, Dharoi Canal Scheme No.3, Visnagar proposed to the State Government to acquire the lands of village Vishol, Taluka Unjha, District Mehsana for the public purpose of construction of a canal under Dharoi Canal Project. On perusal of the same, the State Government was satisfied that the lands mentioned therein 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 August 27,2002. The owners of the lands were served with notices as required by Section 4 of the Act and an inquiry was conducted. On conclusion of inquiry, a report as contemplated by Section 5A(2) of the Act was forwarded by the Special Land Acquisition Officer to the State Government. On consideration of the same, the State Government was satisfied that the lands of village Vishol, specified in the Notification published under Section 4 of the Act, were needed for the public purpose of construction of canal under the Dharoi Canal Project. Therefore, a declaration under Section 6 of the Act was made, which was published in the Official Gazette on December 26, 2002. The interested persons were thereafter served with notices for determination of compensation payable to them. The claimants appeared before the Special Land Acquisition Officer and claimed compensation at the rate of Rs.500/- per sq.mt. However, having regard to the materials placed before him, the Special Land Acquisition Officer offered compensation to the claimants at the rate of Rs.8.95 Ps. per per sq.mt. by his award dated February 13,2003. 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 under Section 18 of the Act requiring the Special Land Acquisition Officer to refer their cases 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, where they were registered as noticed earlier.

(3.) On behalf of the claimants, witness Satuji Ghemarji was examined at Exh.26. After giving particulars of the lands acquired, the witness mentioned that all the lands were fertile as a result of which each claimant was able to raise crops of cumin seeds, spogel seeds, fennels, cotton, wheat etc. during the winter whereas each claimant was able to raise crops of millet,Juwar, pioneer, etc during summer and each claimant was able raise crops of millet, cotton, fennel, Juwar, Tuwar, etc. during monsoon. The witness maintained that each claimant was able to earn substantial income from the sale of different agricultural produces. After mentioning the pattern of crop, the said witness stated that the land is situated just near the village. He has stated that, the market price of the land before 10 years was more than Rs.2 lacs per Vigha. He has stated that at the time of acquisition usual sale transactions were at the rate of Rs.4 to 5 lacs per Vigha of land. However, so as to reduce the expenses, the sale-deeds bear lesser amount. The witness mentioned before the Court that his village is just situated adjacent to Unjha. He has stated that the lands of both the places bear the same fertility. He has stated that his village is situated at a distance of 20 Kms. from Mehsana and the village consists of the population approximately about 6,000 people. He has further stated that his village consists of Panchayat House, two Bus-stations, a Primary School, two Bal-mandirs, two Anganwadis, Temple of Oganat Mahadev etc. He has further stated that M.D.R. Road from Brahmanwada to Patan passes through his village, a road from Patan to Unjha passes through the village and that Patan city is situated near his village. He has further stated that the nearby villages i.e. Unjha, Varvada, Maktupur, Brahmanwada, Chandalaj, Nedra are linked by Pakka roads. He has further stated that the village is developed, consisting of various factories, shops, hospital etc. He has stated that his village is covered under SJyoti Gram Yojna and day by day is developing. The witness produced Certificate issued by Talati-cum-Mantri of Vishol Gram Panchayat at Mark 5/2. In order to substantiate his claim that the boundaries of both the villages were touching each other, the witness produced village Map at Exh.38. The witness informed the court that earlier the lands of village Unjha were acquired for construction of Canal under Sipu Project and that the Reference Court had awarded higher compensation as a result of which on the basis of said award, they were entitled to enhanced compensation. The witness produced previous award of the Reference Court relating to the lands of village Unjha at Exh.25.