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 La