A.L. Bahri, J. - (1.) VIDE this judgment 70 Regular First Appeals (RFA Nos. 105 to 107, 324 with X -Objections No. 57 -CI, 325 with X -Objections No. 116 -CI, 326,327,328 with X -Objections No. 59 -CI, 329 with X -Objections No. 60 -CI, 330 with X -Objections No. 117 -CI, 331 with X -Objections No. 112 -C -I, 332 with X -Objections No. 58 -CI, 333 with X -Objections No. 119 -CI, 334 with X -Objections No. 61 -CI, 335, 336 with X -Objections No. 62 -CI, 337, 338 with X -Objections No. 63 -CI, 339 with X -Objections No. 118 -CI, 340 with X -Objections No. 94 -CI, 341 with X -Objections No. 113 -CI, 342 with X -Objections No. 114 -CI, 343 with X - Objections No. 64 -CI, 344 with X -Objections No. 115 -CI, all of 1989. RFA Nos. 350 to 352, 367 to 369, 370 with X -Objections No. 107 -CI, 371, 372 with X -Objections No. 128 -CI, 373, 374 with X -Objections NO. 97 -CI, 375 with X -Objections No. 129 -CI, 376, 377 with X -Objections No. 101 -CI, 378 with X -Objections No. 110 -C, 379 to 381, 382 with X -Objections No. 98 -CI, 383 with X -Objections No. 130 -CI, 384 with X -Objections No. 8 -CI of 1991, 385 with X -Objections NO. 131 -CI, 386 with X -Objections No. 100 -CI, 387 with X -Objections No. l32 -CI, 388 with X -Objections No. 133 -CI, 389 with X -Objections No. 134 -CI, 390 with X -Objections No. 135 -CI, 391, 392, 393 with X -Objections No. 71 -CI/1989, 394 with X -Objections No. 99 -CI 395, 396 with X -Objections No. 136 -CI, 397 with X -Objections No. 111 -CI, 398 with X -Objections No. 137 -CI, 362, 407 and 408 all of 1989. RFA Nos. 1858 to 1861, 2052 to 2054 of 1989 and 2630 of 1989) are being disposed of together as they relate to the same acquisition proceedings. The main judgment is prepared in R.F.A. No. 105 of 1989, Kamlesh Kumar and Ors. v. State of Haryana and Anr..
(2.) STATE of Haryana acquired 3609 Kanals 16 Marias of land for a public purpose, namely, for the extension of Hissar Cantonment area in Hissar. Notification under Section 4 read with Section 17(1) of the Land Acquisition Act (hereinafter called 'the Act') was issued on June 18, 1984. A notification under Section 6 of the Act was issued on June 25, 1984. The Land Acquisition Collector (Cantonment), vide Award No. 3 dated January 31, 1986, determined compensation payable for the acquired land category -wise as under: - Annexures Rate Per Acre A Rs. 50000/ - B Rs. 30000/ - C Rs. 25000/ - D Rs. 15000/ - E Rs. 10000/ - The land -owners were not satisfied with the amount of compensation awarded. Hence they moved references under Section 18 of the Act before the District Judge. Such references were determined by the Additional District Judge vide judgment dated October 28, 1988. He determined compensation for the acquired land dividing into two blocks as under: - (i) Block 'a' as shown At the rate of in the site plan Rs. 100000/ -per acre Exhibit RW1/A (ii) Block 'B' as shown At the rate of in site plan Rs. 50000/ - per acre Exhibit RW 1/A. On the amount of compensation so determined, the landowners were to be allowed solatium at the rate of 30% of the market value and an additional amount at the rate of 12% per annum under Section 23(1A) of the Act and interest at the rate of 9% for a period of one year from the date of taking over possession and at the rate of 15% per annum for the subsequent period till payment of the compensation. Still the land -owners were not satisfied with the amount of compensation awarded that they have approached this Court in these appeals. In order to appreciate the question debated as to whether in the facts and circumstances of this case belting system of determination of market value could be adopted or not, it would be useful to refer to the site plan produced on the record to know the situation of the acquired land vis -a -vis other portions of land covered by sale deeds as well as situation and location of development near the acquired land. Exhibit PW 8/A is the site plan. The existing cantonment is shown in green colour. The land in dispute is towards the East of the existing cantonment. Highway to Delhi is situated towards the South of the existing cantonment as well as the acquired land. Just across the highway and in between the highway and the railway line, there has been development. Several factories have come up. The railway station is towards the South of the highway. Public school already existed which is towards the East of the existing cantonment as situated on the highway itself. 'A' to' I are such plots which are situated near the highway and near the acquired land where manufacturing units have already come up, such as, H.P. Cotton and Textile Mills etc. The residential colony of H.P. Cotton and Textile Mills is further towards the South of the railway line in Rectangle No. 95, as already stated above just near the acquired land, across in between highway and the railway line is the factory of Prakash Tubes. Just towards the railway line from the acquired land existed S.B. Oil Industries. There also existed other industries while going towards the East of the existing cantonment as aforesaid was also acquired. That piece of land was surrounded by Housing Colony plots, Associated Distilleries and other industries.
(3.) BEFORE evidence produced in the case by the parties is referred to it may further be observed that apart from the factories having been installed and there existed a school with its own colony for the staff there was no other development of this area for residential or commercial activities. The development referred to above is of industrial nature i.e., manufacturing units have come up near the acquired land on a road leading towards Delhi. PW 1 Ram Kumar Aggarwal deposed about the land measuring about 8 Killas located on the highway adjoining Vidya Devi Jindal School having been purchased for the purposes of installation of factory for running such a factory, a Company was got registered known as Rawalwasia Oil and Textile Mills. They also wanted to install B.T. Steel Factory for the manufacture of stainless steel. The plan Exhibit PW 8/1 was proved by PW 8 Vinod Kumar draftsman. PW9 Suraj Mal Bhaskar deposed about the existence of Vidya Devi Jindal Public School at the time of acquisition, the old cantonment, H.P. Textile Mills and Parkash Pipes Factory near the acquired land. PW 10 Suraj Mal did state that the land acquired could be used for residential and commercial purposes. PW 12 D.N. Mathur, Administrative Officer of the School aforesaid deposed that the foundation stone of the school was laid on February 25, 1982 and the building was completed in January 1983. The school started functioning in March 1983. On the other hand RW 1 Madan Lal Patwari also produced site plan Exhibit RW 1/A. RW 2 Brij Lal Patwari produced list Mark X with respect to the mutations registered showing the sale of land. It is on the basis of this evidence that the Additional District Judge observed that there was no justification for the Land Acquisition Collector in categorising the acquired land into plots on the basis of their agricultural quality. The following observations were made with respect to the potential of the acquired land: - " The National Highway No. 10 abuts on a part of the acquired land and part of the same stands sandwiched between Abadi -deh of village Mayyar and Vidya Devi Jindal Public School. The existence of Parkash Tubes on the date of acquisition and that of H.P. Cotton Mills is not denied by the respondents. Further, towards the Hissar town, the said National Highway is dotted with factories on the southern side. Beyond Vidya Devi Jindal Public School, towards the east is the old cantonment, existence of which is not denied by the respondents. So, it cannot be denied that the acquired land had residential and commercial potential and its categorisation into 5 blocks by the Land Acquisition Collector on the basis of its agricultural quality especially of land shown in Annexures 'C, 'D' and 'E' appended with his award was not at all justified, though he committed no error in awarding higher compensation to the parcel of land abutting the National Highway and slightly less compensation of land shown in annexure 'B' proximate to the land abutting the National Highway.";