- (1.) K. C. Agrawal, J. This writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution has been filed by the Union of India challenging the award of the arbitrator appointed under the Defence of India Act, 1962 (Act 51 of 1962) (hereinafter referred to as the Act ).
(2.) THE facts of the present case lie in a narrow compass. 201. 890625 acres land of village Sikandarpur, Paragana Loni, tehsil and district Ghaziabad was acquired for construction of Hindan Air Field by the Government of India. A major portion of the land had earlier been requisitioned under Section 29 of the Act on 18-9-1963 and was, subsequently, acquired on 9-7-1964. THE remaining land had been requisitioned in between the dates from October 29, 1963, to March 19, 1965. This also had been, subsequently, acquired under Section 36 of the Act. Section 37 of the Act deals with determination of compensation for acquisition of requisitioned property. The relevant provision is sub-section (1) of S. 37. It reads as under: - "the compensation payable for the acquisition of any property under Section 36 shall be : - (a) the price which the requisitioned property would have fetched in the open market if it had remained in the same condition as it was at the time of requisitioning and been sold on the date of acquisition, or (b) twice the price which the requisitioned property would have fetched in the open market if it had been sold on the date of requisition. " whichever is less".
(3.) UPON the land being acquired, the proceedings for compensation were started before the Special Land Acquisition Officer. On the basis of the evidence filed before him, the Special Land Acquisition Officer held that the market rate of the land on the dates of requisition and acquisition was Rs. 1,200/- and Rs. 3080/- per bigha respectively. In view of sub-sec. (1) (b), the Special Land Acquisition Officer determined the compensation at the rate of Rs. 2,400/- per bigha, double of the market value prevailing on the date of the requisition, it may be noted that Clauses (a) and (b) deal with two different dates with reference to which compensation payable for the acquisition of the property has to be found. Out of these two valuations, compensation whichever is less would be payable.;