STATE OF GUJARAT Vs. BARVANT HARILAL MEHTA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN this group of appeals, preferred under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) read with Section 96 of code of Civil Procedure 1908 (hereinafter referred to as the Code) the State of Gujarat and the Executive Engineer, Bhavnagar irrigation Project Division (hereinafter referred to as the appellants) have challenged award dated 10.1.2003 passed by the learned 4th Joint Civil Judge (S.D.) Bhavnagar in Reference Case No. 310/91 to 315/91, 316/91 and 317/91 to 326/91 and 479/91 to 527/91 whereby the Reference Court has awarded Rs. 900/ - per Are as additional compensation for irrigated lands and Rs. 600/ - per Are as additional compensation for non -irrigated lands. The Reference Court has also allowed other statutory increases. Although the LAQ awards were separately made by the Land Acquisition Officer ('LAO' for short) and the respective notifications under Section 4 were issued separately, the purpose for which the lands in question came to be acquired being common and the gap between the two respective notifications under Section 4 being only of few days, the Reference Court decided the said reference cases by the common award dated 10.1.2003 which is impugned in present appeals. Since all the appeals arise from the same common award and the dispute and claim are common to all landowners ('claimants' for sake of brevity), all captioned appeals are decided by this common judgment.

(2.) THE said reference cases arose from two separate awards dated 31.3.1989 and 14.12.1989 made by the LAO in LAQ case Nos. 5 of 1987 and 17 of 1987 whereby the LAO had awarded Rs. 140 per Are for irrigated land and Rs. 90 per Are for non -irrigated land.

(3.) AFTER considering the material on record and the submissions of the contesting parties the Reference Court enhanced the rate of compensation by allowing additional compensation, as aforesaid, at the rate of Rs. 900/ - per Are for irrigated land and Rs. 600/ - per Are for non -irrigated land. The appellants are aggrieved by the said enhancement and directions. Hence, the appeals.