Judgement

GUPTA, J.: These two appeals on certificate of fitness granted by the High Court of Assam and Nagaland under Article 133 (1) (c) of the Constitution arise out of land acquisition proceedings. A large area of land in village Cotanagar. Mouza Ramcharani was acquired for the Railways in 1950. The extent of the land acquired in the case of the first respondent in Civil Appeal No. 178 of 1968 Raj Chandra Sarma, was 11 bighas, 4 kathas and 10 lachhas of rupit (cultivable) land, and in the case of Surendra Nath Sarma, sole respondent in Civil Appeal No. 179 of 1968,67 bighas 1 katha and 10 lachhas of which 60 bighas were rupit land, and 7 bighas 1 kaths and 16 lachhas were basti land. The Collector awarded compensation at the rate of Rs. 350/- per bigha for rupit land and Rs. 300/- per bigha for basti land. Being dissatisfied the claimants applied for reference under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act. The Subordinate Judge who heard the reference felt that on the material before him the only possible way to assess the value of the land was by capitalising the income from the land for 25 years. He referred to an application (Ext. A) made to the Collector by one of the c