( 1 ) THE beneficiary as well as the owners of the acquired land being aggrieved by the awards passed by the Civil Court, have preferred these appeals under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, 'the Act' ). M. F. A. Nos. 2451, 2453, 2457 and 2461 of 2001 are by the beneficiary, whereas M. F. A. Nos. 3428 to 3431 of 2001 are by the owners of the acquired land.

( 2 ) 19 acres 24 guntas of land comprised in R. S. No. 395 which is situate within the limits of Gadag-Betgeri Municipality was acquired for a public purpose, to wit, for the purpose of installation of electricity power transmission station at Gadag, building KEB office, warehouse etc. , by issuing Section 4 (1) Notification dated 15-9-1994. The land in survey No. 395 is phoded in favour of four brothers and they are the claimants in LAC Nos. 1 to 4 of 1997 and each block measures 4 acres 36 guntas. The Land Acquisition Officer after conducting award enquiry placing reliance on sales statistics awarded the compensation at the rate of Rs. 60,000/- per acre vide his order No. LAQSR-1/94-95, dated 15-11-1996. The owners of the acquired land being aggrieved by the said award sought reference of