Judgment

Arun Kumar, J.—Leave granted in all these Special Leave Petitions.

2. These appeals are directed against the judgment of the High Court whereby the High Court set aside the judgment of the Reference Court passed under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act and remanded the case to the Reference Court for fresh determination of the market value of the acquired land.

3. Briefly, the facts are that a large tract of land was acquired vide a notification dated 14th August, 1987 under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act. The acquired land falls within the municipal limits of the city of Meerut (U.P.). The Special Land Acquisition Officer (SLAO) noted the potentiality of the acquired land for purposes of building activity in his award dated 22nd February, 1990. He however, fixed the market value of the acquired land at Rs. 30/- per square yard. A reference under Section 18 of the Act at the instance of the claimants was decided by the learned District Judge, Meerut vide judgment dated 23rd November, 2002. The claimants were claiming compensation at the rate of Rs. 270/- per square yard. The District Judge however, determined the rate of compensation as Rs. 126/- per square yard be