JUDGMENT :

1. Leave granted.

2. The land of the appellants, situated in village Khora, Pargana Loni, Tehsil Dadri, District Ghaziabad, was part and parcel of the total land measuring 902.2046 acres which was proposed to be acquired by a notification dated 17.03.1988 published on 19.03.1988 under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (in short, “the Act”). It appears that finally, land measuring 337.892 acres only, including that of the appellants, was acquired and the award was passed by the Special Land Acquisition Officer on 01.02.1991, granting compensation at the rate of Rs.70 per sq. yard.

3. Most of the land owners, including the appellants, filed reference under Section 18 of the Act. The Learned Xth Additional District Judge, Ghaziabad vide an award dated 06.04.1998 partly accepted those references and enhanced the compensation at the rate of Rs.106 per sq. yard.

4. Various land owners then approached the High Court by way of First Appeals, for further enhancement of compensation. These appeals included First Appeal No.491/1998 (Veer Singh & others vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and others), First Appeal No.493/1998 (Megh Singh and others vs. State of Uttar Pradesh) and Fi