( 1 ) THESE are appeals arising under Sec. 54 of the Land acquisition Act read with Sec. 96 C. P. C. filed by the original claimants-land-holders, challenging the common judgment and awards passed by the Reference Court under sec. 18 of the said Act.

( 2 ) THE pertinent and relevant facts in brief are as under :

( 3 ) THE lands in question were acquired for the purpose of Demy-2 Irrigation scheme, and are situated in and around village Rajavad, Taluka Morbi, District rajkot. The notification under Sec. 4 of the said Act was dated 19/02/1979, which", however, came to be published in the Government Gazette only on 10/05/1979. At this stage, we may only emphasize that there is a substantial interval between the making of the notification, and the publication; thereof, the significance whereof will be discussed hereinafter. The notification under Sec. 6 of the said Act was published on 3/01/1980. 3. 1 After going through the procedure required by law/the Land Acquisition officer declared his award under Sec. 11 of the said Act on 26/03/1981. In the said award, the L. A. O. , determined the market value of the lands in question by categorizing them according to the nature and quality, under three heads. Accordingly, he offered Rs. 80. 00 per Are for Jirayat lands (Non-irrigated lands), rs. 110/- per Are for Bagayat lands (Irrigated lands) and Rs. 130. 00 per Are for superior Bagayat lands (Irrigated lands of superior quality/fertility ). 3. 2 Being aggrieved by the said award of the L. A. O. and not having accepted the same, the claimants preferred References under Sec. 18 of the said Act/which resulted in the common judgment and awards which are the subject-matter of the present appeals. The Reference Court determined the market value of the acquired lands under the same categorisation of Jirayat, Bagayat and superior Bagayat lands, by adding Rs. 30. 00 per Are to each category. Thus, the Reference Court determined the market value for Jirayat lands at Rs. 11o. 00 per Are, for Bagayat lands at rs. 140/- per Are and for superior Bagayat lands at the rate of Rs. 160. 00 per Are. 3. 3 The claimants-land-holders being dissatisfied with the common judgment and awards, have, therefore, preferred the present appeals. 3. 4 So far as the claim in these appeals is concerned, though the same is stated in monetary terms, learned Counsel for the appellant clarifies that the claimants seek in the present appeals the determination of the market price of the lands at Rs. 125. 00 per Are for Jirayat lands, Rs. 170. 00 per Are for Bagayat lands and Rs. 190. 00 per Are for superior Bagayat lands.

( 4 ) WE consider it relevant at this stage to mention that this very common judgment and awards passed by the Reference Court were challenged by the State government in a group of appeals being Civil Appeal Nos. 308 to 352 of 1986, these appeals came to be heard and dismissed by a Division Bench of this Court by judgment and order dated 12/03/1986 (Coram : B. K. Mehta and I. C. Bhatt, jj. ). We have perused the said judgment with a due care, and we find that the same is a decision on the merits of the contentions of the State for the purpose of reducing the market value as determined by the Reference Court. No doubt in this decision, there are passing observations to the effect that it may have been possible for the reference Court to have awarded something more. However, we do not look upon these observations as a finding of fact, when admittedly this decision deals only with the claim of the State for reduction of the compensation. These observations; are made only with a view to sustain further observations made in the said decision to the effect that in the opinion of that Bench, the Government cannot be said to be legitimately aggrieved by the findings of the learned Assistant Judge, i. e. , of the reference Court. In our opinion, it would not be open for us to entertain the contention of the appellants herein that the said decision shou