NAGESH WAMAN PATIL Vs. SPECIAL LAND ACQUISITION OFFICERBOMBAY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a reference under section 18, Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as "the said Act") for the determination of compensation in respect of acquisition of certain lands situated at village Borla, in Kurla, Bombay.

(2.) The proceedings arise out of the acquisition of a large area of land admeasuring 30 acres 34 gunthas and 4 annas, equivalent to 1,49,344.25 sq. Yards, situated at village Borla in Kurla. Three notifications under section 4 of the said Act declaring the intention to acquire the said lands, were published on 27-11-1958. On 14-10-1960 , an agreement was arrived at between the claimants and the Bombay municipal corporation, being the acquiring body, for whose purposes the aforesaid lands were being acquired under the said Act. The said agreement was arrived at between the claimants as representing their families including certain minors and the Bombay municipal corporation as well as a confirming party. The recitals to the said agreement show that the Improvements committee of the said corporation by its resolutions, dated 8th sept., 1950 and 22nd Dec., 1959 respectively had sanctioned, inter alia, the acquisition of certain lands situated at Borla village, admeasuring about 50 acres and 33 1/4 gunthas i,e, 2,44,813.25 sq. Yards decribed in the first and second schedules thereto and the said lands were notificed under sec. 4 of the said Act for acquisition under notification published in the Bombay Government Gazette (part) dated 27th Nov., 1958. The recitals further show that by the said resolutions, the Improvements committee and the corporation had also agreed to purchase the land situated at Borla village admeasuring 5 acres and 39 gunthas i,e, 28,919 sq. Yds. Or thereabouts which also delineated on a plan annexed to the said agreement. There is a further recital in the agreement which runs as follows :

(3.) In the reference before me, the only claim made by the claimants is that in addition to the compensation which has been awarded to them, they are entitled to the solatium at 15% as provided under sub-section (2) of S. 23 of the said Act. It was urged by Mr. Bhat that the agreement between the claimants and the acquiring body, namely, the Bombay municipal corporation, only pertained to what was the fair market value of the land acquired and in addition to the said market value, the special Land Acquisition officer was bound to award solatium to the claimants at the statutory rate of 15%. It was submitted by him in the alternative, that the aforesaid agreement could not, in law, be regarded as binding on the special land Acqusition officer in fixing the compensation for the land acquired and it could, at best, only furnish good evidence as to what was the market value of the said land. It is submitted by Mr. Bhat that the agreement showed that the fair market value was Rs. 4.25 per sq. Yard and in addition to this, the special Land Acquisition officer was bound to award solatium at 15%. It was, on the other hand, contended by Mr. Kanuga, the learned Government pleader that under the agreement, the claimants had given up their claim for solatium and agreed to accept Rs. 4.25 per sq. Yard as the compensation for the acquisition of the said land, and in view of this , the special Land Acquisition officer was jusitified in awarding the compensation to them only at the rate of Rs. 4.25 per sq. Yard and rejecting the claim of the claimants to solatium. In order to appreciate these contentions, certain provisions of the Act and certain decisions have to be taken note of .Section 4 of the said Act deals with the publication of a notification declaring that the land in any locality is needed or is likely to be needed for any public purpose. Section 6 deals with the declaration of intended acquisition. Section 11 deals with the making of an award and provides for the inquiry into the measurements, value and claims and award by the collector. Section 23 deals with the matters to be taken into consideration in the determination of compensation by the collector. A perusal of clause 1 of sub-section (1) of S. 23 shows that the market value of the land at the date of the publication of the notification under sec. 4, sub-section (1) is one of the factors which goes into the determination of the compensation payable to the claimants, whose land has been acquired. Sub-section (2) of section 23 runs as follows : In addition to the market value of the land as above provided the court shall in every case award a sum of fifteen per cent on such market value in consideration of the compulsory nature of the acquisition."