SPECIAL LAND ACQUISITION OFFICER Vs. DIYARBHAI GOVINDBHAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) 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 the common judgment and award dated February 24,2003, rendered by the learned 4th Joint Civil Judge (SD), Bhavnagar in Land Reference Case No.58 of 1998 to 71 of 1998 by which the claimants have been awarded additional amount of compensation at the rate of Rs.25/- per sq.mt. for irrigated lands and Rs.15/- per sq.mt. for non-irrigated lands, over and above the compensation awarded to them in L.A.Q. No.179/94 by the Special Land Acquisition Officer at the rate of Rs.2.10 Ps. per sq.mt. for Bagayat lands and Rs.1.40 Ps. per sq.mt. for Jirayat land by his award dated August 28, 1997 as well as compensation awarded to them in L.A.Q. No.221/94 at the rate of Rs.2.25 Ps. per sq.mt. for Bagayat lands and Rs.1.50 Ps. per sq.mt. for Jirayat lands by his award dated August 14, 1997.

(2.) The Executive Engineer, Saurashtra Canal Branch, Division No.26, Botad made a proposal to the State Government to acquire the lands of village Dhinkvadi, Taluka Botad, District Bhavnagar for the public purpose of construction of a canal under the Narmada Project. On perusal of the said proposal, the State Government was satisfied that the lands mentioned in the said proposal 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 June 10, 1994. The owners of the lands were served with notices as required by Section 4 of the Act. They had opposed the proposed acquisition. After considering their objections, necessary 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 said report, the State Government was satisfied that the lands of village Dhinkvadi, specified in the notification published under Section 4 of the Act, were needed for the public purpose of construction of a Canal under Narmada Project. Therefore, a declaration under Section 6 of the Act was made, which was published in the Official Gazette on June 2,1995. Thereupon L.A.Q.No.179 of 1994 was registered and 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.50/- 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.2.10 Ps. per sq.mt. for Bagayat land and Rs.1.40 Ps. Per sq.mt. for Jirayat land. 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, Bhavnagar, where they were registered as Land Reference Case No.58 of 1998 to 60 of 1998.

(3.) Yet another proposal was made by the Executive Engineer, Saurashtra Canal Branch, Division No.26, Botad to the State Government to acquire the agricultural lands of village Dhinkvadi, Taluka Botad, District Bhavnagar for the above mentioned public purpose. On perusal of the said proposal, 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 September 5, 1994. The owners of the lands were served with notices as required by Section 4 of the Act. They had opposed the proposed acquisition. After considering the objections lodged by the owners of the lands, necessary 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 said report, the State Government was satisfied that the lands of village Dhinkvadi, specified in the notification published under Section 4 of the Act, were needed for the public purpose of construction of a Canal under Narmada Project. Therefore, a declaration under Section 6 of the Act was made, which was published in the Official Gazette on August 7,1995. Thereupon L.A.Q.No.221 of 1994 was registered and 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.50/- 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.2.25 Ps. per sq.mt. for Bagayat land and Rs.1.50 Ps. per sq.mt. for Jirayat land. 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 requesting 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, Bhavnagar, where they were registered as Land Acquisition Reference No.61 of 1998 to 71 of 1998. It may be mentioned that all the References were consolidated and common evidence was led by the parties.