ASHOK KHURANA Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present judgment shall dispose of 8 appeals i.e. RFA Nos.82, 659 and 1942 of 2002; 5793 of 2001; 111, 2520, 2646 of 2003; 192 of 2006 and 3060 of 2007 filed both by the State and by the land owners seeking reduction and enhancement respectively since the Reference Court decided the petition under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (in short 'the Act') on 28.08.2001 and 13.10.2001, 28.08.2001, 18.12.2001 28.09.2002, 24.03.2003 and 22.10.2005. Facts are being taken from RFA No. 82 of 2002, Ashok Khurana vs. State of Haryana.

(2.) In principle, the Reference Court, in all the cases, has assessed the market value of the land in question @ Rs.178.40 per square yard which translates to Rs. 8,63,456/- per acre. The reasoning given by the Reference Court is that on an earlier occasion on 31.07.2001, the award had been passed in similar circumstances in L.A. Case No. 123 of 1997 titled as Suresh Kumar vs. State of Haryana. The notification in question under Section 4 dated 02.03.1993 is common to the set of cases for acquisition of land in the revenue estate of village Taraf Afgan, Malik Ugra Kheri and Ugra Kheri at Panipat was, thus, the exemplar relied upon by the Reference Court to follow the earlier view taken to peg the market value at the above mentioned rate. The Collector, vide the award dated 28.02.1996, had assessed the market value of the 3 villages at the following rates:- <FRM>JUDGEMENT_104_LAWS(P&H)1_2018_1.html</FRM>

(3.) The said rates, as noticed, have been enhanced by the Reference Court on an earlier occasion in Suresh Kumar's case and respectively followed thereafter.