Judgment

1. Leave granted.

2. The Appellants are aggrieved by the judgment of the Division Bench of the Madras High Court whereby market value of the acquired land fixed by the Reference Court was reduced from ` 4,000/- to ` 3,100/- per cent by applying 53% cut towards development charges.

3. The appellants land was part of 935.52 hectares acquired by the State Government for construction of an industrial complex. Notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short ’the Act’) was issued on 17-7-1998 and declaration under Section 6 was issued on 29-10-1998. The Land Acquisition Officer passed two awards dated 31-8-1999 and 25-1-2000 whereby the fixed market value of the acquired land at the rate of ` 350/- per cent.

4. The Reference Court considered the oral and documentary evidence produced by the parties and held that market value of the acquired land should be ` 6,764/- per cent. The Reference Court then applied 40% cut towards development charges and held that the land owners are entitled to compensation at the rate of ` 4,000/- per cent. Paragraph 19 of order dated 31-3-2006 passed by the Reference Court which contains reasons for fixing higher market