IMPORTANT POINT
Relevant factors for determination of market value of acquired land and compensation discussed.

Judgment :-

S.B. Sinha, J.

1. Leave granted in Special Leave Petition (Civil) Nos. 4463-4470 of 2004, 12200-12205 of 2007, 12215 of 2007 and 12206-12213 of 2007.

2. These appeals by special leave involving common questions of law and fact were taken up for hearing together and are being disposed of by this common judgment.

3. The basic fact of the matter is not in dispute.

A notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 was issued (hereinafter referred to for the sake of brevity as, "the said Act") expressing the intention of the State to acquire land to the extent of 87 Acres 96 cents situated in Pasupula and B. Thandrapadu villages for the purpose of establishing a Post Graduation Centre of Sri Krishna Devaraya University.

4. Out of the said 87 Acres 96 cents of land, we are concerned only with 25 acres of land of which respondents were owners. The Land Acquisition Officer made an award on or about 20.12.1995 fixing the market value of the lands at the rate of Rs.15,000/-per acre for the lands situated in B. Thandrapadu village and Rs.16,000/- per acre for the lands situated in Pasupula village.

5. Dissatisfied with the quantum of compensation awarded by the Land Acquisition Officer, the respondents sought for reference from the Collector before the Civil Court in terms of Section 18 of the said Act. The learned Principal Senior Civil Judge, Kurnool by a judgment and award dated 28.03.2001 enhanced the market value thereof from Rs.15,000/- to Rs.90,000/- per acre for the lands situated in B. Thandrapadu village and from Rs.16,000/- to Rs.1,00,000/- per acre for the lands situated in Pasupula village. Appeals and cross-objections were filed thereagainst by the parties hereto.

6. By reason of judgments and orders dated 18.3.2002 and 28.3.2003, a Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court enhanced the market value of the land to Rs.1,90,000/-per acre uniformly for the lands situated in both the villages.

7. Parties thereto are, thus, before us.

8. The High Court in support of its judgment, inter alia, relied upon a registered deed of sale dated 12.11.1987, which was marked as Exhibit B-3 whereby and whereunder four cents of land was sold for a sum of Rs.10,000/-. On that premise, it was contended that the value of the land per acre would be Rs.2,50,000/-. The High Court furthermore relied on its earlier judgment and order passed in A.S. No. 1095 of 1996 (Exhibit B-6) wherein market value of the lands acquired therein was fixed at the rate of Rs.2,70,000/- per acre.

In respect of the land covered by Exhibit B-6, a notification under Section 4(1) of the Act was issued on 30.06.1992 for the purpose of establishing Bharat Gas Power Station. It was noticed that the lands which were acquired for the said Bharat Gas Power Station being situated at a distance of about 8 kilometers from Kurnool Town whereas the acquired lands were situated about 4-5 kilometers away from Kurnool Town.

It was stated:

"As can be seen from Ex.B6, this court has fixed the rate of compensation at Rs.2,70,000/-and the notification was issued in June 1992 whereas in the present cases notification was issued in May 1995. In such an event, if escalation is given at 10% on the value fixed by this Court, it would be around Rs.3,24,000/- per acre. Let us test the value from the other angle. Ex. B3 is a small extent of 4 cents and the purchase took place in the year 1997. The reference court correctly observed that as the purchase was made about 7 years earlier to the notification, the purchase was not made with a view to have an undue advantage of higher compensation. As per Ex. B3 the value per acre is Rs.4,00,000/- if 10% escalation is given for 7 years, the same comes to Rs.6,80,000/- and even if we take 60% of the amount by keeping in view the small extent sold under Ex.B3 and also giving discount for developmental activities, it would be Rs.2,72,000/-per acre. Therefore, we follow the safest method for arriving at the compensation with r