P.C.VERMA, J. - (1.) ON 26.5.2010, this Court passed the following order:- "Having heard the counsel for the parties, the aforesaid appeals of the UP Avas Evam Vikas Parishad Parishad and the cross appeals filed by the claimants are dismissed. The impugned awards of Rs. 27/- per sq. yard are affirmed. The claimants are also held entitled to the statutory benefits of the 1984 Amendment Act alongwith the statutory interest under Ss. 28 and 34 of the LA Act on the amount of compensation from the date of possession to the date of its actual payment and the rule of appropriation, as laid down in Gurpreet Singh v. UOI, (2006) 8 SCC 457, will apply. Since the proceedings for acquisition in the present matters commenced four decades back, the Parishad shall pay the entire sum, as above, if not already paid, within a period of 9 months from today with interest up to the date of payment. The parties would bear their own costs. The detailed reasoned judgement shall follow." 1. Accordingly, we now proceed to give our detailed reasoned judgement as follows:
(2.) THIS batch of first appeals arises from the awards made by the UP Avas Evam Vikas Parishad Tribunal, Agra (in short, "the Tribunal") relating to the fixation of compensation regarding the various parcels of the lands acquired by the UP Avas Evam Vikas Parishad, Lucknow (in short, "the Parishad") for its "Sikandra Grahsthan Evam Sarak Yojna", covered by a common preliminary notification dated 4.4.1970. Out of 41 appeals of this batch, 25 appeals have been filed by the Parishad for the reduction of the compensation, while 16 cross appeals have been filed by the claimants for enhancement of compensation. The above appeals have been heard together and are being disposed of by a common judgement, as the learned counsel for the parties have agreed for the same.
(3.) THE Parishad framed the aforesaid scheme under the provisions of the UP Avas Evam Vikas Parishad Adhiniyam, 1965 (UP Act No. 1 of 1966) (here-in-after referred to as the "Parishad Adhiniyam"), which included land of 5 villages, namely, village Sikandra Bahishtabad, Kakretha Mustaqil, Gailana Mustaqil, Bodla and Khataina, which were contiguous and formed a compact area. Pursuant to the scheme, the notice u/s 28 of the Parishad Adhiniyam was published on 4.4.1970 which was analogous to S. 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (in short, "the LA Act"). The said notice was followed by the notification under S. 32 of the Parishad Adhiniyam on 20.6.1980. The possession of the scheme land, including the lands involved in the present appeals, was taken by the Special Land Acquisition Officer (in brief, "the Spl. LAO") during the period from year 1981 to 1984 without making award. The Spl. LAO made his awards village-wise by fixing different market values for each village. While the market values of village Khataina and Chak Khataina were fixed @ Rs. 19.98 (i.e. Rs. 2.22 sq.ft.) and 17.82 per sq. yard (i.e. Rs. 1.98 sq.ft.) respectively, it was fixed for the acquired land of village Sikandra Bahistabad @ Rs. 9.52 per sq. yard and of village Bodla @ Rs. 8.25 per sq. yard. The lands of village Gailana Mustaqil and Kakretha Mustaqil were fixed @ Rs. 7.50 and Rs. 4.45 per sq. yard respectively. The Spl. LAO treated the entire scheme land as a potential building site and, therefore, did not consider the quality of the soil classification of the lands, fertility or their irrigation facilities. The assessment of the market value was on square foot/square yard basis. At the time of making of the awards, the owners/claimants were neither present nor represented and no notices were also issued by the Spl. LAO to them u/s 12 (2) of the LA Act as is evident from the RTI information dt. 21.4.2010, taken on record. Since the landowners/claimants did not accept the awards and sought for references under S. 18 of the LA Act, the Spl. LAO made them to the Tribunal at Agra, constituted under S. 64 of the Parishad Adhiniyam. The Tribunal, after examination, found the land in question to be potential building site and relied upon the awards of village Chak Khataina and Khataina made by the Spl. LAO himself by respect of a part of the scheme land itself. The Tribunal answered all references, made to it by making its several separate awards and uniformly assessed the market value @ Rs. 27/- per sq. yard (i.e. Rs. 3/- per sq.ft.) in respect of the land parcels of the various villages by holding their uniform value. In some of the awards, the Tribunal awarded solatium u/s 23(2) of the LA Act only @ 15% of the market value and interest was also not awarded on the amount of solatium and on the additional amount found payable u/s 23 (1-A) of the LA Act. The Parishad, feeling aggrieved by the Tribunal's awards has preferred the present 25 appeals to this Court, while the claimants have also preferred their 16 cross appeals to seek further enhancement of the market value, besides claiming for the benefits of the 1984 Amendment Act and the statutory interest as per law.;