ORDER :

Leave granted

1. These appeals are directed against the common judgment and order passed by the High Court of Judicature of A.P. at Hyderabad in AS Nos. 1799 of 2000 and 1155 of 2001, dated 8.10.2009. By the impugned judgment and order, the High Court has quantified the compensation payable to the land owners in a sum of Rs. 400 Sq. yards with other statutory benefits. The facts in nutshell are: The Municipal Committee, Warangal had taken possession of a land situate in old Waddepalli Village to an extent of 3733 Sq. yards in Survey No. 37 on 1.1.1938. The Municipal Committee had developed the said land into a park which was known as "Nehru Park". To avoid further dispute, the Municipal Committee had requested the State Government to acquire the aforesaid land by initiating land acquisition proceedings under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, 'the Act').

2. Pursuant to the request so made by the Municipal Committee, a preliminary Notification was issued by the State Government, dated 14.1.1996. After considering the objections filed by the land owners under Section 5-A of the Act, the State Government had issued final Notification under Section 6(1) of the Act.

3. After completion of the proceedings, the Land Acquisition Officer (for short, "LAO") had quantified the compensation payable to the land owners in a sum of Rs. 250 per Sq. yards with other statutory benefits.

4. Aggrieved by the award so made by the Land Acquisition Officer, the land owner/(s) had requested the LAO to make a reference to the civil Court as provided under Section 18 of the Act. The reference Court by its order dated 28.1.2000 had quantified the compensation payable to the lands acquired in a sum of Rs. 400/- per Sq. yard after coming to the conclusion that average value of the land is Rs. 600/- per Sq. yard on the basis of the sale deeds, Exs. A5 and A6 even though the land owner/(s) proved the market value according to sale deeds to be Rs. 1,500/- and Rs. 1,000/- per Sq. yard.

5. Being aggrieved by the judgment and order of the reference Court, an appeal was preferred before the High Court. The High Court has confirmed the order passed by the trial Court and after considering the evidence that was led by the parties and also considering the comparable sales statistics has confirmed the market value in a sum of Rs. 400/- per Sq. yard. Before the High Court, the land owner/(s) were not only asking for enhancement of compensation payable to the lands acquired but also for rent/damages for the lands from the date they were dispossessed till the date of the notification, i.e., from 1.1.1938 till 10.1.1996. The High Court, by the impugned judgment and order, has fixed the compensation at Rs. 400/- per Sq. yard as noticed by us earlier and has granted 9% interest from the date of notification.

6. Aggrieved by the aforesaid order passed by the High Court, the land owner/(s) are before us in these appeals.

7. Shri P. Viswanath Shetty, learned Senior Counsel strenuously contends before us that the High Court was not justified in granting the compensation of Rs. 400/- per Sq. yard and according to him the land is situated in a developed area and has a great potential and, therefore, the High Court ought to have enhanced the compensation amount ordered by the reference Court. Further, learned Counsel would submit that the Appellants are entitled for rents/damages from the date they were dispossessed, namely, 1.1.1938 till the date of Notification, namely, 10.1.1996 and since that has not been properly calculated by the High Court, the order passed by the High Court requires to be modified to the aforesaid extent.

8. We have carefully perused the judgment and order passed by the High Court. We are of the considered opinion that the High Court has not committed any error whatsoever while quantifying the compensation payable to the land loser/(s) in a sum of Rs. 400/- per Sq. yard with all other statutory benefits.

9. Now what remains to be considered and dec