- (1.) J. C. S. Rawat J. All these six appeals have been filed by the Opp. party/appellant against the com mon judgment and award dated 29-06-1991 passed by the then I Additional District Judge, Nainital in Land Acqui sition Case Nos. 72 of 1988, 290 of 1986, 289 of 1986, 247 of 1989, 246 of 1989 and 245 of 1989 respectively. Since common questions of law and facts are involved in all these appeals, therefore, they are being disposed of by this common judgment. ,
(2.) BY the impugned award ;dated 29-06-1991 the learned Reference Court allowed the references preferred by the claimants holding them to be entitled to get compensation @ Rs. 60/ - per sq. metre for the land acquired alongwith 15% solatium, interest @ 12% per annum from 24-12-1983 to 27-9- 1985. The claimant Smt. Shanti Devi was held entitled to get compen sation @ Rs. 60/- per sq. metre alongwith 15% solatium of the acquired land of plot No. 229. Claimant Sri Ram Nath was held entitled to get compen sation @ Rs. 60/- per sq. metre alongwith 15% solatium of acquired land of plot No. 225. It was further held that he shall be paid only 6/16 share out of the total amount of compensa tion and rest 10/16 share will be paid to real owner of the land. The Refer ence Court affirmed the amount of compensation awarded by the Special Land Acquisition Officer (hereinafter re ferred to as the S. L. A. O.) for the trees and ponds in each case. All the claim ants were further held entitled to get interest on the enhanced amount under Section 28 of the Land Acquisition Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) and interest under Sec. 34 of the Act on the amount of compensation. Brief facts giving rise to these appeals are that the State Government had acquired 34. 76 acres of land for the purposes of Land Development and Grahsthan Yojana No. II, Kashipur District-Nainital), (now District Udham Singh Nagar ). The acquiring body was the U. PAvas-Vikas Parishad, Lucknow. Notification under Section 28 of the Land Acquisition Act was made on 24-12-1983 and notification under Section 32 of the Act was made on 29-09-1984. Undisputedly, the acquired land is situated within the municipal area. The S. L. A. O. calculated the price at the rate of Rs. 56. 74 per sq. metre and af ter deducting 25%, the compensation was awarded at the rate of Rs. 42. 56 per sq. metre The S. L. A. O. had awarded compensation on different counts as follows : (1) For the total land measuring 34. 76 =ks. 59,73,010. 80 acres i. e. 1,40,343. 30 sq. mtrs. , (2) For construction and ponds = Rs. 15,925. 00 (3) For fruit bearing trees = Rs. 18,131. 80 (4) For non-fruit bearing trees = Rs. 24,148. 00 (5) 30% solatium on the amount of comoensation = Rs. 18. 09. 364. 60 Thus, vide award dated 27-09-1986 of S. L. A. O. total Rs. 78,40,500 20 was awarded to the land owners as compensation. Aggrieved by the said award dated 27-09-1986, all the claimants made references through Collector, Nainital to the District Judge, Nainital under Section 18 of the Act on 23-11-1987 for decision and determination on the grounds, inter alia, that the claimants/applicants are the owner of the land detailed in the scheduled placed sin the application. The com pensation awarded by the S. L. A. O. was inadequate. He has determined the compensation at the lowest rate. It was also contended before the Reference Court that the compensation paid for the acquired land was unreasonable. The claimants/ applicants demanded the compensation @ Rs. 250/- per sq. yard as the whole area of land was being acquired in one lot. The Opp. party/avas Vikas Parishad, Lucknow contested the claim and filed its written statement in each case contending that the claimants are not entitled to get any enhanced compensation.
(3.) THE Reference Court framed necessary issues on the pleadings of the parties and after appreciating the evi dence adduced by the parties held that the compensation awarded by the S. L. A. O. is inadequate. He had relied upon the sale deed dated 02-12-1982 ' of the rate of Rs. 93. 11 per sq. metre, sale deed dated 06-12-1982 of the rate of Rs. 96. 84 per sq. metre and sale deed dated 02-07-1983 of the rate of Rs. 56. 73 per sq. metre as exemplar sale deeds. The learned Reference Court, while awarding the compensation, took out the average means per sq. metre @ Rs. 103. 64 and after de ducting 40% as development charges it comes to Rs. 63. 64 per sq. metre. After hearing the parties, the Refer ence Court in round figure held the rate of compensation as Rs. 60/- per sq. metre and awarded compensation accordingly, vide impugned judgment and award dated 29-06-1991. Feel ing aggrieved by the said impugned award, the Opp. party/ appellant U. P. Avas Evam Vikas Parishad/lucknow has come up in these appeals.;