JUDGMENT

A.K. SIKRI, J.

A very limited, but pertinent, question of law arises for consideration in these appeals. Land of the appellants was acquired by the Government of Uttar Pradesh vide Notification dated 12th September, 1986 issued under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act’). It was followed by the declaration dated 24th February, 1988 issued under Section 6(1) of the Act. It may be mentioned that vide the aforesaid Notification, large tracts of land were acquired, belonging to various land owners/villagers of Village Makanpur Paragana Loni, Tehsil -Dadri, District Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh for planned development of Vaishali. After the acquisition of this land, it was handed over to Ghaziabad Development Authority (for short, ‘GDA’) for development.

2) The award dated 18th January, 1990 was passed by the Special Land Acquisition Officer determining the market value of the acquired land at the rate of Rs. 50 per square yard. The appellants as well as other villagers were not satisfied with the rates so fixed and, therefore, sought the reference under Section 18 of the Act. Matter was referred to the Additional District Judge, Ghazi