1 RFA-5258-2015(O&M) and other connected cases IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH RFA-5258-2015(O&M) and other connected cases Reserved on : 11.02.2025 Date of decision: 11.03.2025 Mohinder Singh and others ..Appellants Versus State of Haryana and others ..Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL KSHETARPAL Present:- Mr. Vijay Kumar Jindal, Senior Advocate with Mr. Abhishek ShuklaAdvocate for the appellant(s) Mr. Surya Pratap Singh, Advocate Ms. Supriya Arora, Advocate for the landowners in RFA-5257-2015 Mr Bhag Singh, Advocate for the landowners in RFA-5257, 5259, 5262, 5261, 5265, 5264 and 2222 of 2014 Mr. Sanjay Jain, Advocate for the appellant in RFA-6420-2015 Mr. Arun Gosain, Senior Panel counsel for UOI Mr. Pardeep Solath, Advocate Mr. Sunny Deep Juneja, Advocate for appellant in RFA-2220, 2221, 2219, 2223 of 2016 and for respondent no.1 in RFA-767, 771, 773 and 774 of 2016 for respondent no.1 to 8 in RFA-764-2016 ANIL KSHETARPAL, J. 1. Prelude:- 1.1 With the consent of the learned counsel representing the parties, a batch of 33 connected appeals (details whereof are at the foot of the judgment) shall stand disposed of by this common order. Rekha Sihag 2025.04.01 13:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh 2 RFA-5258-2015(O&M) and other connected cases 1.2 Assessment of the market value of the acquired land is the only issue involved in these cross appeals, which have been filed by the landowners as well as beneficiary of the acquisition namely Union of India. 1.3 The relevant and necessary particulars of the acquisition are as under:- 06.10.2008 Date of notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 was issued proposing to acquire 66 acres 5 kanals 9 marlas land located in Village Panjokhra, District Ambala for BSF Battalian Head Quarter, AI Rule Battalian of Srinagar Frontier. 19.05.2009 Declaration under Section 6 27.10.2010 LAC vide award no.1 assessed the market value of the acquired land in the following manner Chahi 9 lakhs per acre Barani 8 lakhs per acre Bajar Kadim 6 lakhs per acre 28.04.2015 RC assessed the market value of the acquired land at the rate of 28 lakhs per acre 2. Brief facts:- 2.1 The landowners claim that the market value of the acquired land was not less than Rs.70 to 90 lakhs per acre as it was located on National Highway no.72 leading from Naraingarh to Ambala which had great potential for developing into residential as well as commercial property. It is located at a distance of 4 kms from the residential area of Baldev Nagar, Garnala, Mandhore, Jamitpur and Panjokhra. There are number of commercial establishments, factories, marriage palaces, schools, near the acquired land. State of Haryana has claimed that the amount assessed by the Land Acquisition Collector (hereinafter referred to as ‘LAC’) is in accordance with law. Rekha Sihag 2025.04.01 13:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh 3 RFA-5258-2015(O&M) and other connected cases 2.2 In order to prove their case, the landowners examined PW1 Dharam Pal and PW2 Surinder Mohan Mittal, Registered Architect. They also produced layout plan Ex.P1 and sale deed dated 16.06.2008 of 4 kanals land for total price consideration of Rs.35 lakhs. State of Haryana examined RW1 Manish Sehgal, Patwari and produced two sale deeds Ex.R1 (24.12.2007) and R2 (26.09.2007). The Reference Court (hereinafter referred to as ‘RC’) has relied upon sale instance Ex.P2 to assess the market value of the acquired land but ordered deduction of 60% from its price. The sale deeds Ex.R1 and R2 have been excluded from consideration on the ground that these are reflecting the price lower than the amount offered by the LAC. 3. Arguments addressed:- 3.1 Learned counsel representing the appellants submits that sale instance Ex.P2 is of the acquired land and half acre of the land has been sold. He submits that the RC has erred in deducting 60% from the aforesaid exemplar sale deed. 3.2 Per contra, learned counsel representing the UOI relies upon sale instance R1 and R2 to contend that the market value of the acquired land was nearly Rs.8 lakhs per acre. 4. Discussion & Analyses:- 4.1 At this stage, the relevant information of the exampler sale deeds produced is compiled as under:- S. No. Exhibit Sale Deed Number and Date Sale Consideration / Per Acre Price Area Sold (Sq. Yards) Location and Type of Land 1. P2 1185 / 16.06.2008 Rs. 35,00,000/- _______________ Rs. 70,00,000/- 2420 Sq. Yards Village Panjakhera / Chahi Rekha Sihag 2025.04.01 13:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh 4 RFA-5258-2015(O&M) and other connected cases 2. R1 4201 / 24.12.2007 Rs. 10,85,000/- _______________ Rs. 8,00,000/- 6564.251 Sq. Yards Village Mandor/ Chahi 3. R2 2986 / 26.09.2007 Rs. 4,25,000/- _______________ Rs. 8,09,000/- 2541 Sq. Yards Village Mandor/ Chahi 4.2 Ex.P1 is a layout plan of the area including acquired land. Sale deed Ex.P2 is with respect to a share out of the joint land comprised in Rect.no.95. Possession of land comprised in khasra no.4/1, 4/2 and 4/3 was handed over to the purchaser out of Rect. No.95. 4840 sq. yards is the total area of an ordinary acre which has 8 kanals consisting of 605 sq. yards. 20 marlas (30.25 sq. yard each) constitute 1 kanal. Thus, the sale instance Ex.P-2 is with respect to half acre of land. It has come on record from the layout plan that Father’s International School is opposite the acquired land. Mind Tree School and Police station, Panjokhra are also not far off the acquired land. Various commercial establishments are also in vicinity of the acquired land. Location of khasra no.4/1, 4/2 and 4/3 is not exactly on the Highway but one and half acre away from the National Highway namely NH 72. 4.3 The sale deeds produced by the State of Haryana are with respect to parcels of land located at a sufficient distance from the National Highway whereas the acquired land is on the National Highway. Though the RC has committed error in excluding exemplar sale deed R1 and R2 by incorrectly interpreting Section 25 of 1894 Act in view of judgment passed by the Supreme Court in Lal Chand vs. Union of India (2009) 15 SCC 769, however, these sale instances are with respect to parcels of land located far away from the National Highway as well as the acquired land. Rekha Sihag 2025.04.01 13:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh 5 RFA-5258-2015(O&M) and other connected cases Consequently, sale exemplar P-2 can be relied upon to assess the market value of the acquired land. It may be noted here that this sale deed was executed approximately 3 months before 06.10.2008 i.e., the date of notification under Section 4 of the 1894 Act. Hence, the sale instance is with respect to contemporaneous period. Moreover, State or the beneficiary has not led any evidence to prove that this sale instance is not genuine or there was effort to secure more compensation. There is no suggestion to the witness to this effect. However, Ex. P2 is a sale instance of only ½ acre of land, which is equivalent to 2440 sq. yards whereas acquired land is 6 more than 68 ½ acres, which is a sufficiently large chunk of land. Moreover, a share in the joint land has been purchased. The RC has erred in applying 60% cut. 5. Decision:- 5.1 Keeping in view the aforesaid facts, the overall position and location of the land, the appropriate cut would be 30%. The RC has not given any reason to allow deduction of 60% on Rs.70 lakhs per acre. Consequently, the market value of the acquired land is assessed at Rs.46,66,666/- which is rounded to Rs.46,67,000/-. The landowners shall be entitled to the market value alongwith all statutory benefits as per amended Land Acquisition Act, 1894. 5.2 With these observations, the appeals are disposed of. 5.3 All the pending miscellaneous applications, if any, are also disposed of. disposed of. 11.03.2025 (ANIL KSHETARPAL) rekha JUDGE Whether speaking/reasoned Yes/No Whether reportable Yes/No Rekha Sihag 2025.04.01 13:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh 6 RFA-5258-2015(O&M) and other connected cases S. No. Case No. Case Title 1 RFA-5258-2015 Mohinder Singh and others v/s State of Haryana and another 2 RFA-5257-2015 Jaswinder Singh v/s State of Haryana and another 3 RFA-5259-2015 Hari Ram Since Deceased Through His LRs v/s State of Haryana and others 4 RFA-5260-2015 Sohan Devi v/s State of Haryana 5 RFA-5261-2015 Balwant Singh v/s State of Haryana and another 6 RFA-5262-2015 Darbara Singh and others v/s State of Haryana and others 7 RFA-5263-2015 Jagat Ram through his LRs v/s State of Haryana and others 8 RFA-5264-2015 Nachattar Kaur and others v/s State of Haryana and others 9 RFA-5265-2015 Jagdev Singh and another v/s State of Haryana and others 10 RFA-5266-2015 Savitri Devi since deceased thr LRs v/s State of Haryana and another 11 RFA-6420-2015 Gurdev Singh and others v/s State of Haryana 12 RFA-812-2016 Union of India and others v/s Jaswinder Singh and another 13 RFA-813-2016 Union of India and others v/s Hari Ram and others 14 RFA-814-2016 Union of India and others v/s Darbara Singh and others 15 RFA-815-2016 Union of India and others v/s Mohinder Singh and others 16 RFA-859-2016 Union of India and others v/s Savitri Devi and others 17 RFA-2219-2017 Harjinder Singh v/s State of Haryana and others 18 RFA-2220-2017 Rajan Chanana v/s State of Haryana 19 RFA-2221-2017 Amar Singh since deceased through his LRs v/s State of Haryana and another 20 RFA-2222-2017 Harinder Singh v/s State of Haryana and another 21 RFA-2223-2017 Kamlesh Rani v/s State of Haryana and another 22 RFA-763-2016 Union of India v/s O.P. Mongia and another 23 RFA-764-2016 Union of India and others v/s Gurdev Singh and others 24 RFA-765-2016 Union of India and others v/s Nachattar Kaur and others Rekha Sihag 2025.04.01 13:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh 7 RFA-5258-2015(O&M) and other connected cases 25 RFA-766-2016 Union of India and others v/s Harinder Singh and another 26 RFA-767-2016 Union of India and others v/s Kamlesh Rani and another 27 RFA-768-2016 Union of India and others v/s Sohan Devi and another 28 RFA-769-2016 Union of India and others v/s Jagat Ram and another 29 RFA-770-2016 Union of India and others v/s Balwant Singh and others 30 RFA-771-2016 Union of India and others v/s Amar Singh and another 31 RFA-772-2016 Union of India and others v/s Jagdev Singh and others 32 RFA-773-2016 Union of India and others v/s Harjinder Singh and another 33 RFA-774-2016 Union of India and others v/s Rajan Chanana and another (ANIL KSHETARPAL) 11.03.2025 JUDGE rekha Rekha Sihag 2025.04.01 13:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Chandigarh