The main legal point established in the judgment is that compensation under the Land Acquisition Act cannot be determined based on subsequent notifications for different villages, and the court must consider the specific circumstances and notifications for the relevant village.

JUDGMENT :

(Divyesh A. Joshi, J.)

1. The first appeal and cross objection emanate from the judgment and award dated 24.10.2019 passed by the learned 5th Additional Senior Civil Judge, Mehsana in LAR Case Nos.871 of 2011 to 875 of 2011, 877 of 2011 to 882 of 2011 and 884 of 2011 to 888 of 2011.

2. Being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the judgment and award passed by the 5th Additional Senior Civil Judge, Mehsana, the present first appeal has been filed by the Acquiring Body, whereas the Cross Objection has been filed by the original claimants.

3. The factual matrix of the case of the original claimants are as under;

3.1 The appellant-State Acquiring Body acquired the lands of Village Gilosan, Taluka Mehsana, District Mehsana for the purpose of constructing Mehsana bypass road, and for that purpose, notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short “the Act”) was issued on 7.3.2008. Thereafter, on 23.10.2008, notification under Section 6 of the Act was published.

3.2 On 6.3.2010. the Special Land Acquisition Officer awarded Rs.20/- per sq. mtr. as compensation of the acquired lands. As the amount determined by the Special Land Acquisition Officer is not upto the mark and far below from the actual market value of the lands, the claimants have raised objections to the same and challenged it by way of filing applications, which ultimately culminated into reference cases.

3.3 Thereafter, the Reference Court has commenced the proceedings, and at the end of the day, after completion of leading of evidence by the rival parties, the learned Judge has considered all the documents and materials available on record and after appreciating the same, awarded additional compensation of Rs.2178.57 per sq. mtr. which after deducting the compensation of Rs.20/- per sq. mtr. already awarded by the Special Land Acquisition Officer, comes to Rs.2158.57 (rounded off Rs.2159/- per sq. mtr.) along with statutory interest and solatium, whereas the claimants have demanded Rs.10,000/- per sq. mtr.

3.4 Being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the aforesaid judgment and award, both the parties are here before this Court. The appellant-Acquiring Body has filed the captioned first appeal, whereas the original claimants have filed the cross-objections.

4. Learned AGP Mr. Jadeja appearing for the appellant-State Acquiring Body has vociferously submitted that the impugned judgment and award is required to be quashed and set aside as the same is passed upon incorrect appreciation of the evidence. It is submitted that in the present case, the reference court has relied upon the judgment of village Panchot delivered in LAR Nos.1620 of 2011 to 1713 of 2011 produced at Exh.62 which is adjacent to the present village Gilosan and, on the basis of the same, has awarded the compensation of Rs.2178.75 – Rs.20/- = Rs.2159/- per sq. mtr. He has further submitted that, however, in the present case notification under Secdtion 4 was issued on 7.3.2008, whereas in the case of village Panchot, upon which reliance has been placed by the Reference Court, notification under Section 4 was issued on 11.2.2009 which indicates that there is a gap of eleven months between aforesaid two notification and, therefore, 10% deduction is required to be made in the present case. Learned AGP Mr. Jadeja has further submitted that the Reference Court instead of placing reliance on the important documents produced by the Acquiring Body, has given undue weightage to the non-important documents and materials while passing the impugned order. Not only that, the Reference Court has conveniently discarded the important evidence placed by the Acquiring Body. Hence, the impugned order is required to be quashed and set aside. It is submitted that the Reference Court has not properly appreciated the fact that the Land Acquisition Officer, on the basis of the sale-deeds executed in the vicinity of the concerned land, has precisely determined the compensation at the rate of Rs.20/-