( 1 ) IN pursuance of a notification as per Ex. 54 dated 8-7-49 issued under sec. 4 of the Land Acquisition Act hereinafter to be referred to as the Act certain land from the villages of Ravapur Ugedi Gaduli Dayapur Madh and other villages were acquired for putting up Manjal-Lakhpat Road. or those lands the lands which came to be acquired from the villages of Ravapur and Ugedi belonged to His Highness the Maharao of Kutch. The lands from Ravapur admeasured 24 acres 17 gunthas and those of Ugedi admeasured 16 acres 33 gunthas. The claim for compensation in respect of those lands under acquisition was made by His Highness the Maharao of Kutch before the Land Acquisition Officer Nakhatrana. Those lands were in the opinion of the Land Acquisition Officer Kharaba lands in the sense that they were waste lands and that way unfit for any use. He therefore allowed compensation at the rate of Rs. 2-25 np. per one acre of land. Feeling dissatisfied with that award the reference was made by the Land Acquisition Officer at the instance of the claimant under sec. 18 of the Act. The claim in that reference was merely confined to the land admeasuring 3 acres 30 gunthas of Ravapur and 37 gunthas of land from Ugedi which were said to be contiguous to the house sites of those villages respectively. The claim was made at the rate of Rs. 1-12 np. per one square yard of land from the village of Ravapur. 3 acres and 30 gunthas of land are equal to 18150 square yards of land. In respect of the other land admeasuring 37 gunthas from the Ugedi village he made claim at the rate of Rs. 00-75 np. per one square yard of land. 37 gunthas of land are equal to 4477 square yards. That reference was heard by the Court of the Assistant Judge Kutch at Bhuj. Considering the effect of the evidence adduced by the parties in the case the learned Judge found that both the lands were Kharaba lands. On that basis he rejected the claim at the rate of Rs. 00-75 np. per square yard for the land of village Ugedi. He however felt that much though the land of village Ravapur was Kharaba land since it had a building potentiality he awarded compensation at the rate of Rs. 1000. 00 per one acre of land together with solatium at the rate of 15 per cent on the same. The opponent was further directed to pay interest at 4 per cent on that amount from 8th July 1951 till payment and also costs to the claimant on Rs. 4 310 Feeling dissatisfied with that award passed on 31st December 1963 by Mr. J. D. Desai Assistant Judge Kutch the claimant has come in appeal before this Court. . . . . . . . . .

( 2 ) THAT takes us to the other land admeasuring 3 acres 30 gunthas out of the lands under acquisition situated at Ravapur. The claim in respect thereof has been made at the rate of Re. 1/- per one square yard of land as against what he has been awarded viz. Rs. 1000. 00 per one acre. The contention made out by Mr. Mankad the learned advocate for the appellant was that the learned Judge was wrong in treating this land as Kharaba land and in fact the finding in that respect has been in contradiction to what he ultimately holds viz. about the same having a building potentiality and that way awarding compensation at the rate of Rs. 1000. 00 per one acre of land. His further contention was that the compensation should have been awarded on the basis of certain instances of sale relating to some plots of lands adjacent to the land under acquisition. On that basis it is his claim that the compensation should be awarded at the rate of atleast Re. 1/- per square yard of land.

( 3 ) IN ascertaining the market value of any land or property under acquisition the instances of sale serve a good guide provided they are instances both comparable in point of time and quality. As observed in the case of Ambalal Mansukhram Joshi v. Addl. Special Land Acquisition Officer and another A. I. R. 1968 Gujarat p. 5 the best method of determination of the true market price of a plot of land is to base it