UOI v. Sushila & Ors.

1 Whether the Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment?

2 To be referred to Reporter or not[7]

3 Whether the judgment should be reported in the bgest[7] • PRADEEP NANDRAJOG, j (Oral)

1 I am deciding the above captioned appeals and relatable civil miscellaneous applications which are by way cross objections, all of which have ben listed hereinabove LAAPP784/2005&connected Page4ofl[9] •; H: •..,,.:.:: /

2 The present decision concerns issue of fixation of arketv.a1ue f lpd;h rv enue tpt ç Yil Bak1atvv[1] çil viIlage Mua ' AT The dtes on wh4ffl fair mark.fthe Iahj Pas e detmind mabe gr&picalIy noteud - S No Name of Vit'lage Date of nStifIcato under Section 4f the LAAct

1 Bakkarwa!a 24 9 2003 2 Bakkarwala 17 6 2005 3,. Mundka 25.2.1997

4 Mundka 213.2003

5 Mundka 17 6 2005 4.. It may be highlighted that the notification at sdrial No 2 hereinabove, pertaining to village Bakkarwala, is the same pursuant whereto lands were acquired in th revenue estate of Village Mundka, as per serial No 5 above 5 Abutting NH-b, leading from the city of Delhi to the township of Rohtak In, the State of Haryana, are villages Mundka, Ghevra and Tikri Kalan Village Bakkarwala lies towards)he other side of the Southern boundary of village Mundka The difference between the topology of the two villages is, whereas the land of village MJndka abuts NH-lU, that of vi1Iaje BakkarwaIa does not so abut, being on the other side of the Southern boundary of revenue estate of village Mundka As we proceed from the city of Delhi to the township Of Rohtak, village Mundka is crossed first, followed by village & Ghevra and hen village Tikri Kalan 7 Agricultural lands in village Mundka were acquired LAAPP784/2005&conflected Pagesofl[9]......................................... pursuant to, a notification dated 25 2 1997 issued under Section 4 of the Laid Acquisition Act as per, award No 2119991200F Agricultural lands in the reveue estate of village Mundka were further acquired pursuant to a notification dated 21 3 2003 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acauisition Act as per award No 3/2005-06 as also award No 1/2005-06 FLirther lands in the revenue estate of the same village were acquked pursuant to1a notification dated 17 6 2005 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act as per Award No 13/2006-07 8 Agricultural lands in the revenue estate of village Bakkarwala were acquired pursuant to a notification datd 24 9 2003 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act s per Award No 3/2004-05 Further lands in the revenueestate of the same village were acquired pursuant to a notification dated 17 6 2005 (the same notification under which lands in vilIae Mundka were acquired) as per award No 1/2006-07

9 In a nut shell, the Land Acquisition Collector ietermined the fair market value of the acquired lauids, under all the awards, with reference to the minimum price for agricultual land as notified by the Governent of NCT Oelhi.

10 For clarity I may note that pertaining to tI'e notification dated 25 2 1997 under which agricultural lands n the revenue estate of village Mundka were acquired, the learned S, Land Acquisition Collector determined the fair mparket value with referenc4e to thel minimum price for agricultural Jand notified with effect from 1 4 1997 @ T10 lacs per acre and since the date of Section 4 notification was anterior in point of'time, discounted / I the price for one year @ 11 5% per annum This price was, adopted for, category A lands F'or lancs in categor,i B, the valUe was further, discounted by N0,000/- per acre Pertaining to the notifications dated 21 3 2003 and 24 9 2003, the Land Acquisition Collector relied upon the notification fixing the minimum price of agricultural land as of 1 4 200Pand gave nb benefit of enhancement with reference to the fact that the fair market value of the lands to be determined was as of 21 3 2003 and 24 9 2003 Even pertaining to the notification dated 17 6 2005 which required fair market value of land to b determined in the revenue estate of village5Bakkarwala an villag[4] Mundka as of 17 6 2005, the Land Acquisition Collector determined the same with refer,ence to the notification fixin iininium value of agricultural lards in Delhi aof 1 42001 an ik I 151f gave no increase L[1] Aggrieved by the determinationof the ffr market valuel of the lands by. the Land Acquisition Collector, the land owners sought a reference under Section 18 of ihe Land Acquiition Act 1894 and on the reference being made, vid various judgments and decrees, which are under challenge ir the above captioned appeals, the Reference Court took corrective action, as per the view of the Reference Court, and S enhancedt'hefairmarketvalue 12 In a nut shell, pertaining to the notification dated 25 2 1997 vide which agricultural lands in village Mundka were acquired, the Reference Court adopted the same notification as was adopted by the Land Acquisition Collector under which te t ' I Government of NCT Delhi had fixed the minimum value for agricultural lands in Delhi i e 1 4 1997, but as against the Land Acquisition Collector depressing the prce @ 11 5'6 /o for full one year, adopting the percentage 11 5, iecreased the value by only 34 days inasmuCh a the date with referencç wherto Government had notified the minimum value was 1 4 1997 and the notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act was dated 25 2 1997 This was the value fixed for category A lands and for category B lands, with reference to te values for category A land depressed the same by 90,000I- per. acre

13 Thus, for category A lands the Reference Cout determined the fair market value @ !9,89,288/- per acre and for category B land the same was determined @ 8,99,288/- pr acre

14 Pertaining to the notifications dated 21 3 2003 and 24 9 2003 whereunder agricultural lands in village Mundka anä village Bakkarwala respectively were acquired, the Reference Court took note of the fact that after the Government had notified the minimurrt rates for agricultural laids in Delhi as of. 1 4 2001 the next revision was as of 30 8 2005 Using the si[9] dates and the minimum price notified by the Government of NCT Delhi, the Reference Court adopted the principle of mear average What the Reference Court did was to adopt the valu as of. 142001 and increasing the same byilo% per annum[1] determined the enhanced price as of 21F[3] 2003 as also' 114 24 9 2003 Thereafter the Reference Court took the value notified as of 30.,812005 and depressing the same by 10% per annum determined the sum arrived at as of 213.[2] 003 as Iso 4.920 03 The two suyns arrived at were added and djvided by two to ayrive at the rnean figure as of 21 3 2003, which I note comes to U[5],92,083 33 per acre (In some decisions I note the sum arrived at is 15,92,215/-) For the date 24 9 2003 the price determined was 20,41,000/- per acre

15 Pertaining to the notification dated 17 6 2005 pursuant whereto agricultural lands were acquired in viII.ge Bakkarwala and Mundka the learned Reference Court adopted the minimum price for agricultural lands notified by the Government of NCT Delhi with effect from 1 4 2001 and givin increase @10% per annum determined the value and witt'i ' respect to the lands in village Mundka, on account of Iocationl advantage, being abutting NH-lU gave 5% more and determined the fair,market value as of 17 & 2005 in sum of U[1],37,017 75 per acre and for village Bakkarwala the pric determined was 20,35,255/4 per acre

16 In the aforesaid backdrop of the factual scenario in which I have penned profiled the reasoning of the Land Acquisition Collector as also that of the Reference Court, I deIv into the arguments advanced before me during hearing today

17 With reference to the evidence led in LAC No 384/2004 /amna Vs 110/ & Ors, it was urged by Sh LB Ra,, • learned counsel for the appellant in LA App No 784/2005, whIc] argument was adopted by other. learned counsel who appered for the other.app.ellants, that the. learned Trial judge wa'shb justified in ignoring the sale deed Ex P-i whereunder 1 bigha • • • •. • • • •..• • • ••:... and calculated withrefencethrEto;Iaø prICt per bigha would come to 4,46,000I- as of 5.[8] 1996 Learnedl counsel would urge that there is no reason not to hold that fain market value iof agricultural lands in village Muridka was 1 t[4],46,000/- per, bigha as of 5 8 1996 Taking the argument 1 forward, it is urged that with reference to the said price, fair market value needs to be determined as of 25 2 1993,j 21 3 2003 and 17 6 2005, i e the dates when notifications under. Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act were issued pursuant' whereto agricultural lands were acquired in village Mundka, byl increasing the price progressively, if not by 12% per annum atj i least by 10% per annum It is urged that on the same basis, land price should be determined for the agricultural lands in village Bakkarwala Alternatively, it was urged that since villages Tikri Kalan, Mundka and Bakkarwala are coptiguous villages, and in fact village Tikri Kalan is further towards the township of Rohtak, some increase be made in the value of the iih rfrnc M th •fl' ' and U,73,500/- for category B land, 2,35,850 for category A land and 1,90,150/- for category B land, T[4],02,850/- Or category A land and 3,24,850/- for category B land,[1] respectively