1 RFA-2535-2014 (O&M) and other connected cases IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH RFA-2535-2014 (O&M) and other connected cases Reserved on : 28.03.2025 Date of decision: 12.05.2025 Gianwati and others ..Appellants Versus State of Haryana and others ..Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL KSHETARPAL Present:- Mr. Abhimanyu Singh, Advocate for landowners in RFA-2159, 2341, 462 of 2015 Mr. Rakesh Dhiman, Advocate for the landowners in RFA-474, 462, 2159 and 2341 of 2015 Mr. D.S.Matya, Advocate for appellants no.10 to 17in RFA-7689-2014 for appellants no.1 to 3, 5 to 21, 28 to 38 & 41 in RFA-3093-2015 and for appellants no.1, 3, 4, 6 to 10 in RFA-2341-2015 Ms. Indu Bala, Advocate for appellants in RFA-4986 of 2014, 2535 of 2014 Mr. Aditya Jain, Advocate Mr. Rahul Vohra, Advocate for appellants in RFA-5008 of 2014 Mr Rajiv Sharma, Advocate for the landowners in RFA-456, 457 and 459 of 2015 and for cross objectors in XOBJR-154-157-2016 Mr. Tej Bahadur, Advocate f or respondent no.1 in RFA-474-2015 Mr. Pritam Singh Saini, Advocate for respondents REKHA SIHAG 2025.06.05 04:06 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document Chandigarh 2 RFA-2535-2014 (O&M) and other connected cases Mr. Abhinash Jain, DAG, Haryana. ANIL KSHETARPAL, J. I. Brief facts & Introduction:- 1. With the consent of the learned counsel representing the parties, a batch of 17 connected Regular First Appeals shall stand disposed of by this common order. 2. The singular issue involved in this batch of appeals is with respect to the market value of 239 kanals 3 marlas of land acquired in village Ghamroj, District Gurugram. The necessary and relevant details of the acquisition are as under:- 08.04.2008 Date of notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 17.10.2008 Date of notification under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 Area 239K 3M Village Ghamroj District Gurugram Purpose Construction of water treatment plant and underground tank for Sohna Town in Village Budhera, Tehsil Gurugram and Village Ghamroj, Tehsil Sohna, District Gurugram 16.07.2009 Land Acquisition Collector passed award no.7 awarding Rs.24,00,000/- per acre 12.12.2013 Reference Court assessed the market value at Rs.44,93,528/- per acare 3. On applications filed by the landowners, the matter was referred to the Court for assessing the market value of the acquired land. The landowners claim that the acquired land is situated at Gurgaon Sohna State Highway and closed to Millennium City of Gurugram i.e about 14 kms and only 24 kms away from Delhi border. The distance from Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi to the acquired land is 28 kms whereas IMT Manesar is located at a distance of 23 kms. Maruti Kunj Society is located at a distance of 2.5 kms from the acquired land where the rate of land is not REKHA SIHAG 2025.06.05 04:06 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document Chandigarh 3 RFA-2535-2014 (O&M) and other connected cases less than Rs.25,000/- per sq. yards. World class Mall, Posh Residential Complexes, developed by reputed builders are located just 7 kms from the acquired land. Very famous Model School namely G.D. Goenka Public School, Pathways, Delhi Public School are located within a distance of 4-5 kms from the acquired land. 4. On the other hand, the State of Haryana has submitted that the reference petitions were not maintainable because the landowners accepted the amount of compensation without any protest and the acquired land was agricultural land without any further scope for development. II. Evidences Adduced:- 5. The landowners examined the following witnesses:- PW1 Ram Kishan Suchdeva PW2 Suman PW3 Deep Chand PW4 Rajbir Singh PW5 Balwinder Singh, Halqa Patwari PW6 Ashok Kumar, Patwari Halqa PW7 Abhey Singh, Lamberdar PW8 Dilbagh Singh ,Asstt. Draftsman PW9 Omsat Singh PW10 Mukesh Kumar PW11 Jagdish 6. The following documents were also produced:- Ex.P1 Site Plan Ex.P2 to Ex.P8 Certified copies of sale deeds Ex.P9 Jamabandi Ex.P10 Jamabandi Ex.P11 Certified copy of award Ex.P12 to Ex.P17 Certified copy of statement of witnesses Ex.P18 to Ex.P63 Certified copy of sale deeds Ex.P64 Gurgaon Manesar Urban Complex-2025 REKHA SIHAG 2025.06.05 04:06 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document Chandigarh 4 RFA-2535-2014 (O&M) and other connected cases AD plan Ex.P65 to Ex.P68 Certified copy of sale deeds 7. On the other hand, the State tendered copy of award Ex.R1, copies of proceedings of District Level Committee Ex.R2 and certified copy of award dated 01.05.2012 Ex.R3. 8. The Reference Court (hereinafter referred to as ‘RC’) relied upon sale deed Ex.P5 (25.02.2008) Ex.P6 (12.03.2008) Ex.P8 (17.01.2008), Ex.P39 (07.03.2008) of village Budhera, Ex.P65 (12.03.2008) and Ex.P68 (25.02.2008) of Village Ghamroj. Average of the price reflected in these six sale deeds was calculated at Rs.96,11,111/- per acre. Thereafter, the court proceeded to apply 50% cut on the base value, which comes to Rs.48,05,555.50 per acre. Subsequently, the court held that the award Ex.P1 passed by the RC with regard to acquisition of land in village Budhera vide notification dated 19.04.2008 cannot be relied upon. Thereafter, again the court calculated the average of the base value and the market value determined vide award Ex.P1 and proceeded to assess the market value of the acquired land at the rate of Rs.44,93,528/- per acre. 9. Tabulated compilation of the sale deeds produced by the landowners is extracted as under:- Sr.N o Ex. Vasika No. Date Land Area K M Total sale consideration (Rupees) Rate per acre (Rupees) Revenue estate 1. P2 1801 19.7.2007 28 11 2,26,82,000/- 83,66,872/- Ghamroj 2. P3 1803 19.7.2007 43 17 4,84,00,000/- 88,00,000/- Ghamroj 3. P4 3366 12.11.2007 36 17 1,85,00,000/- 40,00,000/- Ghamroj 4. P5 5174 25.2.2008 4 0 50,00,000/- 1,00,00,000/- Ghamroj 5. P6 5442 12.3.2008 2 12 40,00,000/- 1,28,00,000/- Ghamroj 6. P7 5279 30.3.2009 8 0 5,00,00,000/- 5,00,00,000/- Ghamroj REKHA SIHAG 2025.06.05 04:06 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document Chandigarh 5 RFA-2535-2014 (O&M) and other connected cases 7. P8 4486 17.01.2008 11 16 94,00,000/- 62,66,666/- Ghamroj 8. P18 24391 23.02.2007 134 0 30,31,75,000/- 1,81,00,000/- Ghamroj 9. P19 11507 30.08.2007 117 4 10,98,75,000/- 75,12,820/- Kherki Majra Dhankot 10. P20 22914 01.02.2007 39 0 7,55,62,500/- 1,55,00,000/- Dhankot 11. P21 1802 23.4.2007 24 5 6,36,56,250/- 2,12,18,750/- Dhankot 12. P22 25013 01.03.2007 21 17 5,24,40,000/- 1,90,69,088/- Dhankot 13 P23 22908 01.02.2007 19 7 3,65,23,125/- 1,49,83,840/- Dhankot 14. P24 24380 24.01.2008 9 18.5 3,47,37,500/- 2,79,47,500/- Dhankot 15. P25 24379 24.01.2008 39 18.5 13,97,37,500/- 2,79,47,500/- Dhankot 16. P26 26275 19.3.2007 27 11 5,48,17,750/- 1,59,46,981/- Kherki Majra Dhankot 17. P27 11694 31.8.2007 68 5 14,92,96,875/- 1,75,64,536/- Kherki Majra Dhankot 18. P28 3656 14.5.2007 20 18M 6 Sarsai 6,01,86,500/- 2,29,28,190/- Dhankot 19. P29 3654 14.5.2007 15 6 3,63,37,500/- 1,93,80,000/- Dhankot 20 P30 12070 6.9.2007 25 2 5,00,00,000/- 1,60,00,000/- Dhankot 21 P31 9934 7.8.2007 33 1 2,20,00,000/- 53,33,000/- Dhankot 22 P32 26260 19.3.2007 30 6 5,75,32,800/- 1,53,42,080/- Chandu 23 P33 3656 14.5.2007 20 18M 6 Sarsai 6,01,83,500/- 2,00,61,166/- Kherki Majra Dhankot 24 P34 25012 1.3.2007 76 4 18,28,80,000/- 1,92,50,520/- Kherki Majra Dhankot 25 P35 25135 2.3.2007 72 0 11,70,00,000/- 1,30,00,000/- Dhankot 26. P36 24377 24.1.2008 30 0 10,50,00,000/- 2,80,00,000/- Dhankot 27. P37 12296 10.9.2207 20 2 1,26,00,000/- 50,40,000/- Dhankot 28 P38 1558 29.102007 1 5 6,84,500/- 41,07,000/- Budhera 29 P39 28474 7.3.2008 1 0 7,26,000/- 58,00,000/- Budhera 30 P40 8171 12.7.2006 1 7 8,00,000/- 40,00,000/- Budhera 31 P41 11513 30.8.2007 -- 12.5M 4,00,000/- Budhera 32 P42 18799 6.12.2006 1 7 8,17,000/- 40,85,000/- Budhera 33 P43 26220 21.3.2007 0 14 4,25,000/- 34 P44 11891 5.9.2007 0 11.5 3,85,000/- 35 P45 1761 20.4.2007 9 4 2,42,15,625/- 2,15,25,000/- Dhankot 36 P46 1762 20.4.2007 9 5 2,42,15,625/- 2,15,25,000/- Dhankot 37 P47 23566 9.2.2007 11 12 2,26,20,000/- 1,57,35,652/- Dhankot 38 P48 3654 14.5.2007 15 06 3,63,37,500/- 1,93,80,000/- Kherki Majra REKHA SIHAG 2025.06.05 04:06 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document Chandigarh 6 RFA-2535-2014 (O&M) and other connected cases 39 P49 24773 27.2.2007 9 7.5 1,17,18,750/- 1,04,16,666/- Dhankot 40 P50 23566 9.2.2007 11 12 2,26,20,000/- 1,57,35,652/- Dhankot 41 P51 25552 8.3.2007 9 12 1,80,00,000/- 1,51,57,894/- Dhankot 42 P52 22770 31.1.2007 10 4 1,95,07,500/- Dhankot 43 P53 10741 20.8.2007 7 5M 5 Sarsai 2,04,68,750/- 2,33,92,857/- Kherki Majra 44 P54 11364 27.8.2007 31 8 2,94,37,500/- 75,96,774/- Kherki Majra 45 P55 10516 14.8.2007 7 2M 3Sarsai 2,09,15,000/- 2,39,02,857/- Kherki Majra 46 P56 11513 30.8.2007 - 12.5m 4,00,000/- 51,20,000/- Budhera 47 P57 12274 8.9.2006 - 9 2,72,500/- 48,44,444/- Budhera 48 P58 12276 8.9.2006 - 12 3,63,000/- 48,40,000/- Budhera 49 P59 16301 7.11.2007 - 8.25 2,75,000/- 58,33,386/- Budhera 50 P60 12071 6.9.2007 6 19M 3Sarsai 1,75,00,000/- 2,00,00,000/- Kherki Majra 51 P61 4544 24.5.2007 9 0 39,00,000/- Chandu 52 P62 26272 19.3.2007 22 10 4,46,87,800/- 1,62,50,109/- Kherki Majra 53 P63 26258 19.3.2007 19 15 3,74,05,350/- 1,53,45,784/- Kherki Majra 54 P65 5442 12.3.2008 2 12 40,00,000/- 1,28,00,000/- Ghamroj 55 P66 6968 9.1.2012 2 4 57,85,000/- 2,31,40,000/- Ghamroj 56 P67 2268 23.8.2007 2 0 25,00,000/- 1,00,00,000/- Ghamroj 57 P68 5174 25.2.2008 4 0 50,00,0000/- 1,00,00,000/- Ghamroj 10. Heard the learned counsel representing the parties at length and with their able assistance perused the paperbook. III. Arguments Putforth:- 11 Learned counsel representing the landowners has submitted that the market value of the acquired land has been wrongly determined by the court while considering the average of the market rate of various parcels of land located in two villages Ghamroj and Budhera. It is submitted that both the villages are located at a distance of 31.8 kms apart and are situated on different locations. It is further submitted that the land in village Ghamroj has always been expensive because it is located near N.H 248-A. REKHA SIHAG 2025.06.05 04:06 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document Chandigarh 7 RFA-2535-2014 (O&M) and other connected cases 12. Per contra, the learned counsel representing the State has produced a copy of the layout plan marking the location of the acquired land and the sale deeds. IV. Analysis & Discussion:- 13. It is evident that the RC has erred in relying upon the sale deeds of various parcels of land located in village Budhera, which is at a distance of more than 31 kms from village Ghamroj. Though the notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 was issued on the same day however, both the villages are located at a distance of more than 31 kms from each other. From a perusal of the layout plan, it becomes evident that a compact block of 239 kanals 3 marlas land has been acquired on Eastern boundary of the village. A parcel of land represented by sale instance Ex.P5 is located at a distance of approximately 15 acres from the acquired land. Same is the position of sale instance Ex.P68. Ex.P66, the sale deed dated 09.01.2012 is abutting the acquired land but this sale instance is post 08.04.2008 notification. The market value of the acquired land is to be assessed on 08.04.2008. Parcel of land represented by sale deed Ex.P6 is also at a distance of around 10 acres from the acquired land. Parcels of land represented by sale instance Ex.P2 and Ex.P3 are located at a distance of around 10 acres from the acquired land. Sale instance Ex.P5 is with respect to half acre of land which has been sold at the rate of Rs.1,00,000/- per acre. This sale deed is less than 2 months prior to the date of notification under Section 4. Sale deed Ex.P2 and Ex.P3 also indicate that the market rate of the land was more than Rs.90 lakhs per acre. Sale instances Ex.P2 and Ex.P3 are nearly 8 months prior to the date of notification under Section 4. REKHA SIHAG 2025.06.05 04:06 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document Chandigarh 8 RFA-2535-2014 (O&M) and other connected cases Sale instance Ex.P6 is with respect to a small parcel of land. From the perusal of notification under Section 4, it is evident that agricultural land has been acquired. V. Conclusion & Relief:- 14. Keeping in view the aforesaid facts and discussion, sale deeds Ex.P2, Ex.P3 and Ex.P5 are found relevant for assessing the market value. Ex.P5 reflects highest rate of land amongst Ex.P2, Ex.P3 and Ex.P5, Ex.P6. Sale instance Ex.P68 is also reflecting price in the range of Rs.1 lakh per acre. Ex.P66 is also post 08.04.2008 sale deed. Sale deeds Ex.P5, Ex.P67 and Ex.P68 prove the market value of the acquired land in the area was nearly Rupees One crore per acre. The RC erred in relying upon the sale deeds of various parcels of land located in Village Budhera which is at a distance of more than 31 kms. The RC has also erred in overlooking the fact of acquisition for construction of water treatment plant and underground tank for Sohna Town. Hence, application of 50% cut on the base value was incorrect. Similarly, the RC also erred in taking into consideration the RC’s award Ex.P11 assessing the market value of the acquired land located in village Budhera in which notification under Section 4 was issued on 19.05.2008. 15. Keeping in view the aforesaid facts and discussion, the market value of the acquired land is assessed @ Rs.1,00,00,000/- per acre. The appeals as well as cross objections bearing no.154-157 of 2016 filed by the landowners are allowed while modifying the award passed by the RC and appeals filed by the State are dismissed. REKHA SIHAG 2025.06.05 04:06 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document Chandigarh 9 RFA-2535-2014 (O&M) and other connected cases 16. All the pending miscellaneous applications, if any, are also disposed of. (ANIL KSHETARPAL) 12.05.2025 JUDGE rekha Whether speaking/reasoned Yes/No Whether reportable Yes/No Sr. No. Case No. Appellant(s) Respondent(s) 1. RFA-2535- 2014 GIANWATI AND OTHERS STATE OF HARYANA AND OTHERS 2. XOBJR-156- CI-2016 in/and RFA-476-2015 STATE OF HARYANA & ORS M/S SUPER FAST HOLDINGS PVT. LTD. 3. RFA-1453- 2015 STATE OF HARYANA & ORS KRISHANA 4. RFA-462-2015 STATE OF HARYANA & ORS BRIJ NARAIN 5. RFA-463-2015 STATE OF HARYANA & ORS HARPAL 6. RFA-464-2015 STATE OF HARYANA & ORS HARKESH SINGH 7. RFA-461-2015 STATE OF HARYANA & ORS HARKESH 8. RFA-474-2015 STATE OF HARYANA & ORS RAJ PAL 9. RFA-5008- 2014 SUMAN STATE OF HARYANA AND ORS 10. RFA-2159- 2015 RAJ PAL AND ORS STATE OF HARYANA AND ANR 11. RFA-4986- 2014 HARPAL SINGH AND ORS STATE OF HARYANA AND ORS 12. RFA-2341- 2015 BRIJ NARAIN AND ORS STATE OF HARYANA AND ANR 13. RFA-7689- 2014 HARKESH SINGH AND ORS STATE OF HARYANA AND ORS 14. XOBJR-154- CI-2016 in/and STATE OF HARYANA & ANR M/S AMAR PORT FOLIO REKHA SIHAG 2025.06.05 04:06 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document Chandigarh 10 RFA-2535-2014 (O&M) and other connected cases RFA-456-2015 15. XOBJR-155- CI-2016 in/and RFA-457-2015 STATE OF HARYANA & ORS M/S AMAR PORT FOLIO 16. XOBJR-157- CI-2016 in/and RFA-459-2015 STATE OF HARYANA & ORS M/S AMAR PORT FOLIO 17. RFA-3093- 2015 HARKESH AND ORS STATE OF HARYANA AND ORS (ANIL KSHETARPAL) 12.05.2025 JUDGE rekha REKHA SIHAG 2025.06.05 04:06 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document Chandigarh