Judgment

THOMMEN, J.:- This appeal by certificate is against the judgment and decree of the High Court of Gujarat in First Appeal No. 651 of 1965 modifying the judgment and decree of the Civil Judge (Senior Division), Baroda in Land Reference Application No. 284 of 1963.

2. Land having a total extent of 10 acres 34 gunthas belonging to the appellant/ claimants had been acquired pursuant to notification dated 21-10-1961 issued under S. 4 of the Land Acquisition Act and published in the Gujarat Government Gazette dated 9-11-1961. Aggrieved by the low value awarded by the Land Acquisition Officer in the sum of Rs. 35,706.12 for the land, the claimants sought a reference under S. 18 to the Civil Court. The Civil Judge valued the land by treating it in two categories. An extent of 5 acres 34 gunthas was treated as a banana plantation, and resorting to capitalisation of income with the multiple of 3, the learned Judge awarded Rs. 1,46,223/- for the said cultivated area. In doing so, the Judge relied on the testimony of Shri C. J. Patel who is a graduate in agriculture. In the absence of any evidence regarding income from cultivation of the property in the earlier years, the Judge computed