C-FAs1848&1849-19 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD 912 FIRST APPEAL NO. 1848 OF 2019 1. Balu Martand Chaudhari, Died Through L.Rs. 1/A Yashwant Balu Chaudhari 2. Tushar Krushna Chaudhari 3. Chaya Krushna Chaudhari 4. Jitendra Bhagwat Chaudhari, 5. Manisha Bhagwat Chaudhari 6. Swati Bhagwat Chaudhari 7. Jaishree Bhagwat Chaudhari 8. Sanjay Tulshiram Chaudhari 9. Nitin Tulshiram Chaudhari 10. Vijay Tulshiram Chaudhari 11. Sumanbai Tulshiram Chaudhari ... Appellants All R/o Yawal Tq. Yawal Dsit. Jalgaon VERSUS 1. The Special Land Acquisition Officer, Sub Divisional Officer, Jalgaon. 2. The Executive Engineer, Sub Divisional Officer, Jalgaon ... Respondents WITH FIRST APPEAL NO. 1849 OF 2019 1. Jagannath Vithu Patil, Died Through Appellans 2, 3 and 4 2. Dnyaneshwar Jayram Patil 3. Hari Jayram Patil 1 of 7 2026:BHC-AUG:34513 C-FAs1848&1849-19 3. Pundlik Jayram Patil ... Appellants All R/o Anjale Tq. Yawal Dsit. Jalgaon VERSUS 1. The Special Land Acquisition Officer, Sub Divisional Officer, Jalgaon. 2. The Executive Engineer, Sub Divisional Officer, Jalgaon ... Respondents Mr. Ajeet B. Kale Ajeet B., Advocate for the Appellants Mrs. Bharti B. Gunjal, AGP for the Respondents-State CORAM : NEERAJ P. DHOTE, J. Dated : 6th August, 2026 PER COURT :- 1. These are the First Appeals by the original Claimants arising out of Land Acquisition Reference Nos. 457 of 2004 and 458 of 2004 which came to be decided by the learned Joint Civil Judge, Senior Division, Jalgaon by different Judgments dated 06.04.2009 granting enhanced compensation at the rate of Rs.4,00,000/- per Hectare for the acquired lands. Since the evidence led by the Claimants in both the References is common and common submissions are made, they are decided by this common order. The parties are referred as per their nomenclature before the learned Reference Court. 2. The lands of the Claimants came to be acquired for the purpose of extension of Gavthan at village Anjale Tq. Yawal District Jalgaon. The land admeasuring 0.23 Gunthas from Gat No. 747 in L. 2 of 7 C-FAs1848&1849-19 A.R. No. 457 of 2004 and the land admeausring 0.52 Gunthas and 0.04 Gunthas from Gat Nos. 747 in L.A.R. No. 458/2004 came to be acquired for the said purpose. The Section 4 Notification under the Land Acquisition Act was issued on 29.01.1998 and the Award came to be declared on 02.07.2001. The Special Land Acquisition Officer ( the S.L.A.O. for short) determined the compensation at the rate of Rs.80,000/- per Hectare for the dry land. Being not satisfied with the compensation awarded by the S.L.A.O., the Appellants preferred the above Reference Applications for enhanced compensation. The Claimants relied on the sale instances Exhibits 15 and 16 dated 03.06.1997 and 15.04.1997 from the same village, wherein the land admeasuring 42 ½ Gunthas and 139.5 Square Meters were sold at the rate of Rs.3,80,952/- per Hectare and Rs.150/- per Square meter, respectively. The learned Reference Court, by appreciating the evidence on record, enhanced the compensation at Rs.4,00,000/- per hectare. 3. Heard the learned Advocate for the Claimants and the learned AGP for the Respondents State, finally. With their assistance, perused the papers on record. 4. It is submitted by the learned Advocate for the Claimants that, the sale instances relied upon by the Claimants were from the very same village and they were prior to the Section 4 Notification. The learned Reference Court, though observed that, the acquired lands 3 of 7 C-FAs1848&1849-19 were having Non-Agriculture (N.A.) potentiality, discarded the said sale instances for the reason that, no application was filed by the Claimants for converting the acqured land to N. A. The observation in the judgment of the learned Reference Court shows that, the Government had auctioned certain lands situated in the same village in the year 2002, which indicates that, the prices of land in the said area were increasing every year. As per the settled position in law, the highest sale instance is required to be considered. He submitted that, the Appeals be allowed and the compensation be enhanced on the basis of the sale instances, particularly, the sale instance at Exh. 16. 5. It is submitted by the learned AGP for the Respondents that, the acquired land was not converted to the N. A. land. The observation in the judgment passed by the learned Reference Court goes to show that, the land was 6 kms. away from Bhusawal town and 12 kms. away from Yawal town. She submitted that, since the Claimants had asked for the enhancement at the rate of Rs.6 lacks per Hectare or Rs.15 per square feet, which was on the higher side, the learned Reference Court appropriately granted the enhancement and the Appeals be dismissed. 6. There is no dispute in respect of the extent of the land acquired and the purpose for which it is acquired. The Claimants’ land were acquired for the extension of Gavthan. The learned Reference 4 of 7 C-FAs1848&1849-19 Court observed that, perusal of the Award goes to show that, the acquired land was suitable for extension of Gavthan and the said village Anjale was at the distance of 6 kms. and 12 kms. form Bhusawal and Yawal respectively. Merely because the Claimants had not made the application to the concerned authority for converting the acquired land to N.A. land will not be sufficient to deny the compensation as established through the evidence on record. 7. The Claimants relied on the sale instances from the same village, which were prior to the Section 4 Notification date. Out of the said two (2) sale instances, the sale instance below Exh. 16 was eight (8) months prior to the Section 4 Notification. The learned Reference Court found the said sale instance as comparable one in respect of the time and location. However, by observing that, the price of the sale deed cannot be applied as it is, and plus minus factors are required to be taken into consideration, the learned Reference Court did not enhance the rate by considering the sale instances. There is no contrary evidence by the State. It is nobody’s case that, said sale instances were not genuine. As compared to the area under the sale instances, the acquired land is small in size. 8. The learned reference Court, despite the clear evidence on record in the nature of aforesaid sale instances, did not enhance the compensation on the basis of the evidence on record. Considering the 5 of 7 C-FAs1848&1849-19 evidence on record and the observations by the learned Reference Court in the judgments, the Claimants are entitled for the enhanced rate of compensation as per the sale instances below Exh. 16, wherein, the sale transaction was at the rate of Rs.150 per square meter i.e. Rs.15 per square feet. The operative order of the judgment passed by the learned Reference Court shows that, the interest is granted from from the date of possession. The interest will have to be computed as per the decision of the Full Bench of this Court in State of Maharashtra Vs. Kailash Shiva Rangari, 2016 (3) Mh.L.J.457. Hence, the following order: O R D E R (1) The First Appeals are partly allowed. (2) The judgments and awards dated 06.04.2009 passed by learned Joint Civil Judge, Senior Division, Jalgaon in Land Acquisition Reference Nos. 457 of 2004 and 458 of 2004 stand modified as under:- (a) The Claimants shall be entitled for compensation at the rate of Rs.15/- (Rupees Fifteen only) per Square foot for the acquired land along-with statutory benefits. (b) The interest shall be calculated from the date of Award under Section 11 of the Land Acquisition Act. (3) The State and the Acquiring Body are expected to deposit the 6 of 7 C-FAs1848&1849-19 amount within a period of six months. Thereafter, the Claimants shall be at liberty to withdraw the same in accordance with due procedure. (4) The Claimants shall pay the deficit Court fees. (5) The pending Civil Applications, if any, stand disposed of. (6) Record and Proceedings be sent back to the learned Reference Court. (NEERAJ P. DHOTE, J.) JPChavan 7 of 7