- (1.) This order will dispose of bunch of appeals bearing RFA Nos. 2250, 2251, 2254, 2256, 2917 to 2920, 3363, 3408 to 3412, 3385, 3501 to 3503, 3520 to 3674, 3723 to 3729, 4110 to 4112, 4209 to 4212, 4367, 4527, 4645 to 4648, 4684 to 4689, 4721 to 4725, 5256 to 5258, 5391 to 5407, 5408, 5409, 5457, 5458, 5882 to 5888, 5928 to 5940, 6098, 6099 to 6101, 6104, 6799 to 6803, 6857 to 6861, 6884, 6926 to 6928, 7682,7683, 7138, 7253 to 7255, 7367, and 7441 to 7443, 7910 to 7916 of 2011, RFA Nos. 137, 138, 204, 205, 262, 497 and 7190 of 2012, RFA Nos. 500, 1057, 3894 to 3898, 4431, 5870 and 5871 of 2013 and R.F.A. No. 1110 of 2014 filed by the landowners for enhancement of compensation for the acquired land awarded by the learned court below pertaining to acquisition of land for development as Sectors 4, 5 and 6 at Rohtak, which was acquired for development as residential, commercial and transport area. The acquisition was carried out vide three different notifications, though close in time. The details thereof are as under: (a) Vide notification dated 1.1.2002, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, 'the Act') State of Haryana sought to acquire land measuring 434.68 acres, situated in village Para, Tehsil and District Rohtak for development and utilization thereof as residential, transport and communication Sector 6, Rohtak. The same was followed by notification dated 30.12.2002, issued under Section 6 of the Act. On measurement, the acquired area was found to be 409.32 acres. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, 'the Collector'), vide award dated 29.12.2004, assessed the market value of the land @ Rs. 4,50,000/- per acre for nehri/chahi kind of land; Rs. 3,50,000/- per acre for gair mumkin banjar kadim, bhood and barani kind of land and Rs. 5,50,000/- per acre for the land near the road upto the depth of one acre. (b) Vide another notification dated 1.1.2002, issued under Section 4 of the Act, State of Haryana sought to acquire land, situated in village Bohar, Tehsil and District Rohtak for development and utilisation thereof as road of Sectors 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, Rohtak. The same was followed by notification dated 18.12.2002, issued under Section 6 of the Act. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, 'the Collector'), vide award dated 16.12.2004, assessed the market value of the land @ Rs. 4,50,000/- per acre for nehri and chahi kind of land; Rs. 3,50,000/- per acre for gair mumkin, banjar kadim, bhood and barani kind of land and Rs. 5,50,000/- per acre for the land near the road upto the depth of one acre. (c) Vide another notification dated 4.1.2002, issued under Section 4 of the Act, State of Haryana sought to acquire land measuring 356.76 acres, situated in villages Para and Bohar, Tehsil and District Rohtak for development and utilisation thereof as residential, transport and communication Sectors 4 and 5, Rohtak. The same was followed by notification dated 31.12.2002, issued under Section 6 of the Act. On measurement, the acquired area was found to be 338.91 acres. The Land Acquisition Collector (for short, 'the Collector'), vide award dated 29.12.2004, assessed the market value of the land @ Rs. 4,50,000/- per acre for nehri/chahi kind of land; Rs. 3,50,000/- per acre for gair mumkin, banjar kadim, bhood and barani kind of land and Rs. 5,50,000/- per acre for the land near the road upto the depth of one acre.
(2.) Aggrieved against the awards of the Collector, the land owners filed objections which were referred to the learned court below, who keeping in view the material placed on record by the parties, assessed the market value of the land acquired vide the above three notifications @ Rs. 8,65,435/- per acre. The aforesaid awards of the learned court below have been impugned in the present set of appeals by the landowners seeking further enhancement of compensation. The contentions of learned counsel for the parties have been noticed while taking facts from RFA No. 2250 of 2011.
(3.) Learned senior counsel appearing for the landowners submitted that the learned court below has failed to appreciate the evidence produced on record by the landowners in the form of sale deeds. The reason given for rejection of the sale transactions is totally erroneous. Sale deeds (Ex. P1 and Ex. P2) have been rejected by merely stating that these are for small plots and that these were registered just three months prior to the issuance of notification under Section 4 of the Act, whereas sale deeds (Ex. P3 and Ex. P4) have been rejected opining that these were quite old. Even for rejection of other sale deeds (Ex. P5 to Ex. P11), produced by the landowners on record, the reasons assigned cannot stand judicial scrutiny.;