JUDGMENT

S. C. AGRAWAL, J.:— This appeal by special leave has been filed against the judgment of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir dated February 28, 1975. It arises out of proceedings for acquisition of land under the Jammu and Kashmir Land Acquisition Act, 1990 (1934 AD) (hereinafter referred to as the Act).

2. Appellants Nos. 1 (a) to (d) namely, Tej Ram, Heera Lal, Mani Ram and Mul Raj owned a line of shops, out of which three were double storeyed and the rest were single storeyed, in Mubarak Mandi Bazar in the City of Jammu Tawi. Gopal Krishan, appellant No. 2, owned a single storyed shop in the said bazar. The State of Jammu and Kashmir issued a notification dated November 4, 1964 under Section 4 of the Act for acquiring almost the entire shop of appellant No. 2 measuring about 99.75 sq. ft. and almost the entire three double storeyed shops and small portions of the remaining five shops measuring about 654.33 sq. ft. belonging to appellants Nos. 1(a) to (d). The said notification under Section 4 was followed by a declaration dated March 12, 1965 under Section 6 of the Act. The Assistant Collector of Jammu made an award dated November 28, 1968, whereby he assessed the market value of the land underneath the single storeyed shops at Rs. 8 / - per sq. ft. and the market value of the land underneath the double storeyed shops at Rs. 12/ - per sq. ft. He also awarded Rs. 500/ towards design charges in each case. On that basis he awarded Rs. 1,298/- for the portion of the land acquired from the shop of appellant No. 2 and Rs. 16,797.96 for the land acquired out of the shops of appellants Nos. 1(a) to (d). At the instance of the appellants reference under Section 18 of the Act was made to the District Judge. Both the references were disposed of by District Judge, Jammu, by his order dated December 23, 1970. The District Judge enhanced the compensation for the land underneath the shops to Rs. 30/- per sq. ft. and on that basis he awarded Rs. 2,970/- as compensation for the vacant land to appellant No. 2. In addition to that a sum of Rs.2,248/- was awarded as dismantling charges and Rs. 500/- was awarded as design charges. Rs. 857.70 was awarded as solatium at the rate of 15% under Section 23(2) of the Act. The total amount of compensation awarded to appellant No.2 was Rs. 6,575.70. Similarly the compensation for the land underneath the shops of appellants Nos. 1(a) to (d) at Rs. 30/ - per sq. ft. was assessed at Rs. 19,630/-. In addition Rupees 11,800/- was awarded as dismantling charges and Rs. 500/- as design charges. A sum of Rs. 4,790/ - was awarded as solatium at the rate of 15%. A total amount of Rs. 36,720/was awarded as compensation to appellants Nos. 1 (a) to (d).

3. The Collector, Jammu, filed an appeal in the High Court against the said order of the District Judge. The appellants filed crossobjections in the said appeal. The High Court allowed the said appeal of the respondent and reduced the compensation for vacant land to Rs. 10/- per sq. ft. The High Court maintained the award relating to dismantling charges and the design charges. But as regards the solatium the High Court held that the same was payable only for the area of the land and was not payable on the dismantling charges and design charges. On that basis, the High Court fixed the amount of compensation payable to appellant No. 2 at Rupees 3,895.50 and the amount of compensation payable to appellants Nos. 1(a) to (d) at Rs. 19,825.33. Aggrieved by the said decision of the High Court the appellants have filed this appeal after obtaining special leave to appeal.

4. Shri Atul Sharma, the learned counsel for the appellants, has submitted that the High Court was not jsutified in reducing the compensation that was awarded by the District Judge which itself was on the low side. Shri Sharma has pointed out that the acquisition in question has been made for the purpose of widening the road and the Municipal Committee, Jammu had earlier, in 1956, purchased a shop in th