Hari Ram (Deceased) Thr. His LRs. and Anr. vs Land Acquisition Collector cum District Revenue Officer Gurgaon and Ors.

Hari Ram (Deceased) Thr. His LRs. and Anr. …Appellant(s)

Versus

Land Acquisition Collector cum District Revenue Officer Gurgaon and Ors. …Respondent(s)

WITH

CIVIL APPEAL NO. OF 2022 (@ SLP (C) No. 18286 of 2019)

CIVIL APPEAL NO. OF 2022 (@ SLP (C) No. 25786 of 2019)

CIVIL APPEAL NO. OF 2022 (@ SLP (C) No. 18304 of 2019)

CIVIL APPEAL NO. OF 2022 (@ SLP (C) No. 18051 of 2019)

CIVIL APPEAL NO. OF 2022 (@ SLP (C) No. 31594 of 2019)

CIVIL APPEAL NO. OF 2022 (@ SLP (C) NO._______OF 2022 Diary No. 41222 of 2019)

CIVIL APPEAL NO. OF 2022 Signature Not Verified (@ SLP (C) No. 1714 of 2021) Digitally signed by NIRMALA NEGI Date: 2022.10.20

CIVIL APPEAL NO. OF 2022 16:49:20 IST Reason:

(@ SLP (C) No. 16034 of 2021)

1 CIVIL APPEAL NO. OF 2022 (@ SLP (C) NO._______OF 2022 Diary No. 11553 of 2022)

CIVIL APPEAL NO. OF 2022 (@ SLP (C) NO._______OF 2022 Diary No. 10395 of 2022)

JUDGMENT

M.R. SHAH, J.

1. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned common

judgment and order passed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at

Chandigarh in First Appeal Nos. 597 of 2004 and other allied first

appeals, by which the High Court has partly allowed the said first

appeals and has enhanced the amount of compensation for the lands

acquired to Rs. 7,00,000/- per acre for irrigated and non-irrigated lands,

the original landowners have preferred the present appeals.

2. That the lands in question situated within the revenue estate of

Village Bhondsi, Tehsil Sohna, District Gurgaon came to be acquired

under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter

referred to as the “Act, 1894”) for setting up of Liquified Petroleum Gas

Plant at Bhondsi. Notification under Section 4 of the Act was issued on

19.06.1996. The Land Acquisition Officer determined and awarded the

compensation @ Rs. 5,30,000/- per acre for irrigated lands and

Rs. 2,00,000/- per acre for non-irrigated lands. The Reference Court

2 fixed the compensation at Rs. 5,30,000/- per acre for both the irrigated

as well as the non-irrigated lands. By the impugned common judgment

and order, the High Court has determined and enhanced the amount of

compensation to Rs. 7,00,000/- per acre. Feeling aggrieved and

dissatisfied with the impugned common judgment and order passed by

the High Court determining the compensation for the lands acquired @

Rs. 7,00,000/- per acre, the landowners have preferred the present

appeals for enhancement of the amount of compensation.

3. We have heard the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the

landowners as well as Ms. Meenakshi Arora, learned Senior Advocate

appearing on behalf of the beneficiaries – Indian Oil Corporation.

4. From the impugned common judgment and order passed by the

High Court and even from the judgment and award passed by the

Reference Court, it appears that the landowners heavily relied upon the

sale exemplars / sale instances produced as Ex. P1 to Ex. P10.

However, the landowners have heavily relied upon the sale exemplars /

sale instances produced as Ex. P1 to Ex. P4, which are as under:-

Ex. No. Date of Area Sold: Sale Rate per Sale K M Consideration acre: P1 10.04.1996 16 11 72,00,000.00 34,69,880.00 P2 21.08.1995 14 14 38,50,000.00 20,95,238.00 P3 15.04.1996 1 19 4,69,062.00 19,24,357.00 P4 15.04.1996 1 15 4,09,687.00 18,72,854.00

5. The acquiring body and the Indian Oil Corporation relied upon the

sale exemplars / sale instances produced as Ex. R1 to Ex. R13, more

3 particularly, Ex. R.12, which was also relied upon and considered by the

Land Acquisition Officer, the particulars of Ex. R12 is as under:-

Ex. No. Date of Area Sold: Sale Rate per Sale K M Consideration acre: R12 17.05.1996 16 0 13,40,000.00 6,70,000.00

6. By the impugned common judgment and order, the High Court has

discarded the sale exemplars / sale instances Exs. P1, P3 and P4 relied

upon on behalf of the landowners by observing that the said sale deeds

are by or in favour of the company, M/s. Orient Express Pvt. Ltd. and

there is a price variation between the sale deeds produced as Ex. P1

and the sale deeds produced as Exs. P3 and P4. Therefore, the High

Court opined that the sale deeds / sale exemplars produced as Exs. P3

and P4 are not genuine. That thereafter, relying upon and considering

the sale exemplar / sale deed produced as Ex. R12, the High Court has

partly allowed the appeals and enhanced the amount of compensation to

Rs. 7,00,000/- per acre, hence the present appeals are at the instance of

the original landowners.

7. Having heard the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the

respective parties and having gone through the impugned common

judgment and order passed by the High Court and the reasoning given

by the High Court discarding the sale exemplars / sale instances

produced as Exs. P1, P3 and P4, we are of the opinion that the High

Court has committed a very serious error in discarding the sale

4 instances / sale exemplars produced as Exs. P3 and P4. The High

Court has not properly appreciated the fact that so far as the sale deed

Ex. P1 is concerned, the same was executed by M/s. Orient Express

Pvt. Ltd. in favour of a private person and on the other hand, the sale

deeds Exs. P3 and P4 were executed in favour of M/s Orient Express

Pvt. Ltd. Therefore, when after purchasing the land, a company had

sold the land the prices are bound to be higher. Merely because the

sale deeds Exs. P1, P3 and P4 were by and/or in favour of the company

and there was variation in the prices mentioned in the Exs. P1, P3 and

P4 cannot be a ground to hold that the sale exemplars Exs. P3 and P4

are not genuine and therefore required to be discarded.

8. In view of the above, it will be safe to rely upon and/or consider the

sale deeds produced as Exs. P3 and P4. However, at the same time,

considering the fact that the Sale Deeds produced as Exs. P3 and P4

are with respect to the smaller parcel of land, there has to be a proper

deduction on the ground of smaller area of the land and development.

Looking to the location and the potentiality of the lands acquired and as

the acquired lands were required to be used for Liquified Petroleum Gas

Plant, not much development was required like the housing scheme

and/or as required for other similar purposes, therefore, if 35% is

deducted considering the evaluation with respect to Sale Deed at Ex.

P4, the same can be said to be just, reasonable and proper

5 compensation to the original landowners. Therefore, the original

landowners shall be entitled to Rs. 12,16,800/- per acre towards

compensation for the lands acquired. To the aforesaid extent, the

impugned common judgment and order passed by the High Court is

required to be modified.

9. In view of the above and for the reasons stated above, all these

appeals succeed in part. The impugned common judgment and order

passed by the High Court is hereby modified and it is observed and held

that the original landowners shall be entitled to the compensation @

Rs. 12,16,800/- for the lands acquired with all other statutory benefits

and the interest, which may be available under the provisions of the Act,

1894.

All these appeals are partly allowed to the aforesaid extent.

However, in the facts and circumstances of the case, there shall be no

order as to costs.

………………………………….J. [M.R. SHAH]

NEW DELHI; ………………………………….J. OCTOBER 20, 2022. [M.M. SUNDRESH]

6