Gupta, J. - (1.) These two appeals on certificate of fitness granted by the High Court of Assam and Nagaland under Article 133 (1) (c) of the Constitution arise out of land acquisition proceedings. A large area of land in village Cotanagar. Mouza Ramcharani was acquired for the Railways in 1950. The extent of the land acquired in the case of the first respondent in Civil Appeal No. 178 of 1968 Raj Chandra Sarma, was 11 bighas, 4 kathas and 10 lachhas of 'rupit' (cultivable) land, and in the case of Surendra Nath Sarma, sole respondent in Civil Appeal No. 179 of 1968,67 bighas 1 katha and 10 lachhas of which 60 bighas were 'rupit' land, and 7 bighas 1 kaths and 16 lachhas were 'basti' land. The Collector awarded compensation at the rate of Rs. 350/- per bigha for rupit land and Rs. 300/- per bigha for basti land. Being dissatisfied the claimants applied for reference under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act. The Subordinate Judge who heard the reference felt that on the material before him the only possible way to assess the value of the land was by capitalising the income from the land for 25 years. He referred to an application (Ext. A) made to the Collector by one of the claimants. Surendra Nath Sarma, which included a statement that the rupit land yielded 6 to 8 maunds of paddy per bigha per year. Proceeding on the basis that the average yield per bigha per year was 7 maunds of paddy, and deducting half of this amount on account of cost of cultivation and other incidental expenses, the net yield from one bigha of rupit land came to about 3 1/2 maunds per year. In view of the statement in the application Ext. A. the Subordinate Judge declined to accept the oral evidence adduced on behalf of the claimants to prove that the yield was 10 to 12 maunds per bigha. The Subordinate Judge also referred to the rent receipts (Ext. I series) which showed that claimant Surendra Nath Sarma used to get 2-2/3 maunds of paddy for one bigha of land. The rent receipts disclosed that Surendra Nath Sarma had let out some of these lands on chukani basis for 8 puras of paddy per bigha per year, 3 puras being equivalent to one maund. On the basis of the application Ext. A and the rent receipts Ext. I series the Subordinate Judge held the average net yield per year from 1 bigha of rupit land was 3 maunds, and on the basis of the Government notification of the year in question fixed the price of paddy at Rs. 8/- per maund:thus the net income from 1 bigha of rupit land was fixed at Rs. 24/- per year. The capitalized value of the land on the basis of 25 years' income worked out at Rs. 600 and the Subordinate Judge allowed compensation at the aforesaid rate for the rupit lands. In arriving at this figure he declined to place any reliance on Ext. H which is a report of the Statistical Department of the Government of Assam on outturn of Winter Rice in Assam for 1950-51. As this report was prepared on sample survey basis the Subordinate Judge felt it was not a reliable guide for assessing the value of the acquired land.
(2.) As regards the basti lands the Subordinate Judge found no material to induce him to arrive at a figure different from that awarded by the Collector, namely Rs. 300/- per bigha per year. (sic)
(3.) The High Court on appeal, preferred by the claimants, accepted the method of valuation adopted by the Sub-ordinate Judge. The High Court however held that the yield for the rupit lands should be taken as 8 maunds of paddy per bigha per year, and deducting 3 maunds from this for the cost of production and incidental expenses, the net yield per bigha of rupit land was 5 maunds. As regards the price, the High Court accepted the rate adopted by the Subordinate Judge based on the Government notification which was Rs. 8/- per maund. Calculating on this basis the High Court fixed the amount of compensation for the rupit lands at Rs, 1.000/ per bigha.;