- (1.) Leave granted.
(2.) In a land acquisition case a division bench of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh enhanced land value to Rupees seventy five thousand and odd per acre over and above the market value fixed by the reference Court. For making the aforesaid enhancement the Division Bench of the High Court took into consideration two sale-deeds the copy of which were marked without examining anybody connected with the transaction recorded in the instruments. Appellant is actually the State of Andhra Pradesh though in the cause title it is shown as the Land Acquisition Officer concerned of the State. Appellant contended that the High Court should not have taken into account the sale price shown in the above mentioned two saledeeds as the claimant did not examine the vendee or the vendor or anybody else connected with the sale. There are two decisions of this Court which propounded a legal position consistent with the above stand of the appellant State. They are Inder Singh v. UOI (1993) 3 SCC 240 : (1994 AIR SCW 1552) and P. Ram Reddy v. Land Acquisition Officer, Hyderabad (1995) 2 SCC 305 : (1995 AIR SCW 871).
(3.) As the said decisions were rendered by two Judge bench a plea was made before us by Sri Vidya Sagar, learned counsel arguing for the respondent that the aforesaid legal position may be reconsidered. Learned counsel submitted that S. 51A has been incorporated in the Land Acquisition Act 1894 (for short the "the LA Act") specifically for obviating the insistence for examination of anyone connected with the transactions mentioned in such sale-deeds if the Court has to consider such transactions as evidence in the case.;