LAND ACQUISITION COLLECTOR Vs. BALWAN SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The State is in appeal against the award of the learned court below, whereby on account of acquisition of land, compensation has been directed to be paid @ Rs. 12,00,000/- per acre instead of Rs. 8,00,000/- per acre to the landowners. Along with the appeal, an application seeking condonation of delay of 258 days in filing thereof has also been filed. Briefly, the facts of the case are that vide notification dated 9.8.2007, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, 'the Act'), the State of Haryana acquired 14 marlas of land, situated within the revenue estate of village Rajound, Tehsil and District Kaithal for construction of Inlet Channel for water supply scheme Majra Rohera. The same was followed by notification dated 4.2.2008, issued under Section 6 of the Act. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, 'the Collector'), vide award dated 17.2.2009, determined the market value of the acquired land at Rs. 70,000/-, i.e., Rs. 8,00,000/- per acre. Dissatisfied with the award of the Collector, the landowners filed objections, which were referred to the learned court. The learned reference court determined the market value of the acquired land @ Rs. 12,00,000/- per acre. It is this award which is impugned by the State before this court.

(2.) The impugned award in the present appeal is dated 31.8.2012. It is mentioned in application seeking condonation of delay of 258 days in filing the appeal that District Attorney, Kaithal sent his comments to Legal Remembrancer and Secretary to Government, Haryana vide letter dated 15.9.2012, which were received on 30.4.2013. The Legal Remembrancer, vide letter dated 15.5.2013, opined the case to be fit for filing the appeal. The Advocate General's office, vide letter dated 15.5.2013, asked the Collector, Kaithal to submit relevant documents to enable it to file the appeal. As the same were not available in the office, these were collected from the court below on 26.6.2013. The papers so collected were handed over in the office of Advocate General on 23.7.2013. As some of the papers were not legible, fresh copies were collected and were submitted in the office of Advocate General, Haryana on 30.7.2013. The appeal was ultimately filed on 16.8.2013. There is no explanation forthcoming as to why letter dated 15.9.2012 addressed by the District Attorney, Kaithal was received in the office of Legal Remembrancer, Haryana on 30.4.2013, i.e., more than seven months thereafter and none in the office of the District Attorney tried to follow the same and enquire about the status thereof. The reason seeking condonation of delay of 258 days in filing the appeal is not justifiable.

(3.) Even if the merits of the case are considered, the acquisition in the present case is merely for 14 marlas of land, which was acquired for construction of Inlet Channel for water supply scheme Majra Rohera. The Collector granted a sum of Rs. 70,000/- as compensation, calculated @ Rs. 8,00,000/- per acre. The learned court below, while considering the evidence placed on record by the landowners and taking note of the fact that village Rajound is a big village having market, educational institutions and other infrastructural facilities and also referring to an earlier award pertaining to acquisition of land of the same village, granted compensation @ Rs. 12,00,000/- per acre. If calculated in terms thereof, the amount of compensation payable to the landowners would come out to Rs. 1,05,000/- as against Rs. 70,000/- awarded by the Collector.