STATE OF WEST BENGAL Vs. JAGADISH PROSAD AGARWAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The matter pertains to the award of compensation for requisition and acquisition under the West Bengal Land (Requisition and Acquisition) Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as Act II).

(2.) To begin with, it must be observed that the court below appears to have expended very little effort in arriving at the conclusion summarised in the award and reasons have not been furnished in support of the calculations or the basis thereof indicated under several heads.

(3.) The fundamental premise on which the market-value of the land was determined was that the pineapple field annually yielded 17,776 pineapples per acre. By taking the average price of the pineapple to be Rs. 3.80p per piece, it was assessed that the total annual value of the pineapple yield per acre was Rs. 67,548.80p. By taking such figure as the annual amount, 50% thereof was deducted towards the cost of cultivation. Thus, half of the annual value of the yield was taken as the effective figure and by applying a multiplier of eight the market value of the land per acre in 1987 was determined to be Rs. 2,70,195.20p. There were several variables which went into the calculation. There is no dispute as to the yield per acre since such figure was based on the oral evidence adduced in course of the proceedings. There is also no dispute as to the average price of a pineapple fruit, since that was again based on the evidence before the court. However, the estimation pertaining to cultivation expenses involved some unexplained guesswork and the use of the multiplier eight was without adequate reasons and such aspects have come in for criticism, particularly by the land-loser who has filed a cross objection to the State's appeal. The cross objection is limited to the perceived higher cultivation expenses being deducted and a lower multiplier being applied to arrive at the market-value of the land.