Judgment

S.B. Sinha, J.—The Government of Gujarat issued a notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act (the Act) for acquisition of lands situated in the town Santrampur which would have come under submergence of water released from Kadana Jalagar Yojna due to water logging at Kadana Dam. A declaration in terms of Section 6 was made on 13th October, 1980. In response to the notification issued to the claimants under Section 9 of the Act, compensation at the rate of Rs. 40/- per square feet for the acquired lands was claimed. Compensation ranging from Rs.35/- to Rs. 60/- per square meter was offered by the Land Acquisition Officer in terms of an award dated 16th March, 1982 under Section 11 of the Act. An application for reference was filed by the claimants under Section 18 of the Act requiring the Land Acquisition Officer to refer the matter relating to determination of the market value of the acquired lands to the Civil Court. Before the Reference Court, the claimants initially claimed compensation at the rate of Rs. 200 per square meter which was subsequently enhanced to Rs. 250/- per square meter. By a judgment and order dated 16th April, 1996, the learned Distric