State Of Haryana v. Lila Singh (Died) Through Its Lrs

RFA-2286-2001 (O&M) an d other connected cases COURT OF PUNJAB AND HA ARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

IN THE HIGH C

RFA-2286-2001 (O&M) and other connected cases Decision: February 20, 2026 Date of D RYANA

Versus

DIED) THROUGH ITS LRS ........Appellant STATE OF HAR LILA SINGH (D CORAM: HON

Present:

Mr.

Mr.

........Respondent N'BLE MR. JUSTICE HARKE ESH MANUJA Abhinash Jain, DAG, Haryan na.

Mohit Rana, Advocate for res spondent(s).

**** ANUJA, J. (ORAL) HARKESH MA Vide e this common order, a batch of 4 connected Regular First t Appeals shall s stand disposed of, details w whereof are mentioned in the e footnote of the e judgment. For convenience e, the facts are drawn from m RFA-2286-2001 1.

2.

By w way of present appeal(s), ch hallenge has been laid to the e judgment dated d 19.03.2001 passed by the e learned Additional District t Judge, Gurgao on (for short 'Reference Co ourt') whereby the reference e petition filed u under Section 18 of the L Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter r referred to as 'the Act') by the respondent t (s)-landowner(s s), seeking enhancement o of compensation was partly y allowed.

3.

Brie efly stating, land measuring 6 .43 acres, situated within the e revenue estate e of Village Sehjawas, Tehsi l and District Gurgaon, was s acquired for th e public purpose, namely, fo or construction of road from m Bhondsi to Beh hlpa via Sehjawas vide notific cations dated 03.12.1980 and d 02.02.1981 issu ued under Sections 4 and 6 respectively of the Act. The e

Land Acquisition Collector (for short 'LAC') passed Award No.54G dated 05.03.1981 assessing the market value at the rate of Rs.9,000/- per acre for Chahi and Gair Mumkin Garhi Khad land, Rs.4,000/- per acre for Gair Mumkin Bundh land along with other statutory benefits. 4.

Aggrieved of the aforesaid award, the landowners, sought reference under Section 18 of the Act pleading that the acquired land was situated within village abadi and in close proximity to Delhi Alwar road, and thus, the price thereof was not less than Rs.1,00,000/- per acre.

5.

Upon notice, the same was contested by the appellant-State by way of filing written statement wherein it was pleaded that the value of the acquired land was rightly assessed by the LAC having taken into consideration the potential advantage attached to it as well as considering the prevailing rates at that time. 6.

On the basis of pleadings of the parties, the following issues were framed by learned Reference Court vide order dated 30.09.1998:- "1.

What was the market value of the acquired land at the time of publication of notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act? OPP 2.

Whether the petitioners are entitled to enhanced compensation. If so, to what extent? OPP 3.

Relief."

7.

After considering the evidence, the learned Reference Court, vide award dated 19.03.2001 enhanced the amount of compensation to Rs.29,475/- per acre.

8.

Aggrieved of the aforesaid award dated 19.03.2001 passed by the learned Reference Court, the appellant-State has filed the present appeal.

9.

I have heard learned counsel for the parties and gone through the paper-book. I am unable to find substance in the submission made on behalf of the appellant-State.

10.

A perusal of record shows that reliance has been placed by the learned Reference Court upon the sale dated 12.06.1979 (Ex.P-1) which related to the same revenue estate of village Sehjawas. Vide this sale deed, 19 marlas of land was sold for Rs.3500/- and the base price thereof per acre was Rs.29,475/-. The sole contention raised on behalf of the appellant-State is that the sale exemplar Ex. P-2 though, pertaining to the same revenue estate of village Sehjawas pertained to a small piece of land measuring 19 marlas whereas, the acquisition in the present case was for 6.43 acres and thus, an appropriate deduction was required to be applied.

11.

In the humble opinion of this Court in the given facts and circumstances , it may not be necessary to apply deduction towards smallness of area involved in the sale instance Ex.P-2 dated 12.06.1979 especially, when the respondents-landowners were not awarded any appreciation by the learned Reference Court over the sale price per acre derived from the sale instance Ex.P-2 for the time gap between the said sale transaction dated 12.06.1979 up to the date of notification issued under Section 4 of the Act in the case in hand which was published on 09.12.1980.

12.

In such circumstances, the equities been balanced by the learned Reference Court, no interference is called for with the impugned award dated 19.03.2001, the same being based on proper appreciation of the evidence and the material available on record.

13.

In the given facts, since the land was acquired for public purpose namely for construction of road from Bhondsi to Behlpa, the State did not suffer any loss of land or expense towards providing of additional infrastructural amenities like parks, roads, green belts or community building etc, thus, no cut towards development cost needs to be applied.

14.

In view of the aforesaid circumstances, the present appeals are thus, dismissed.

20.02.2026 (HARKESH MANUJA) Tejwinder JUDGE Whether speaking/reasoned Yes/No Whether Reportable Yes/No Other Connected cases RFA-3930-2001 RFA-3931-2001 RFA-4197-2001