The main legal point established in the judgment is the requirement for claimants to prove inadequacy of compensation and the relevance of comparable sale transactions and potential value of the acquired land in determining fair compensation.

Common Judgment:

1. The claimants have filed these Appeals under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 [for short, ‘the Act’] challenging the orders dated 28.02.2012, 22.6.2012, 09.7.2012, 26.6.2012, 13.7.2012 and 21.7.2012 passed by the learned District Judge, Karaikal, in L.A.O.P. Nos. 24 of 2011, 13 of 2011, 15 of 2011, 20 of 2011, 21 of 2011, 32 of 2011, 33 of 2011, 34 of 2011, 40 of 2011, 41 of 2011, 42 of 2011, 43 of 2011, 44 of 2011, 9 of 2012, 10 of 2012, 48 of 2011, 50 of 2011, 51 of 2011, 60 of 2011, 23 of 2011, 47 of 2011, 55 of 2011 and 61 of 2011 respectively.

2. By this common judgment, this Court proposes to dispose of the above appeals, which involve similar question of fact and law, as they are result of common notification dated 25.01.2006 issued under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 [for short, 'the Act'] and are based upon similar documentary and oral evidence.

3. Though it will be appropriate to refer to the facts giving rise to the present appeals, since they are out of same Notification, it will not be necessary for this Court to refer to the facts of each case in detail. For the purpose of brevity and in order to avoid repetition, the facts in A.S. No. 568 of 2012 are taken up for reference.

4. The relevant facts as arising from the case made out by the parties, leading to the filing of these appeals are that the Union of India issued Notification dated 29.12.2005 under Section 4 (1) of the Act for acquisition of lands for the development of Port in Karaikal, which was published in the Office State Gazette No. 7 on 19.01.2006, identifying the land admeasuring 142.84.18 Hectares of land for acquisition for the said purpose in different Survey Numbers situate in Vanjore Revenue Village, T.R. Pattinam Commune, Karaikal. As the lands were acquired invoking the emergency provisions, 5(A) enquiry was dispensed with and Declaration under Section 6 of the Act, was issued by the Department of Revenue and Disaster Management vide G.O. Ms. No. 166 dated 29.12.2005 and published in the Official Gazette on 19.01.2006. The last date of Section 4(1) Notification by affixture of Public Notice was made on 25.01.2006.

5. The Acquisition Officer, taking into consideration the data sale deeds in respect of certain Survey Numbers and based on an evaluation inspection, had fixed the market value at the rate of Rs.3804/- per Are after deducting development charges and accordingly, passed Award dated 05.02.2010 in Award No. 8729/B1/2010 in all cases. As the claimants felt aggrieved and dissatisfied with the Awards, they had sought for reference under Section 18 of the Act and they were taken on file as L.A.O.P. Nos. 24 of 2011, 13 of 2011, 15 of 2011, 20 of 2011, 21 of 2011, 32 of 2011, 33 of 2011, 34 of 2011, 40 of 2011, 41 of 2011, 42 of 2011, 43 of 2011, 44 of 2011, 9 of 2012, 10 of 2012, 48 of 2011, 50 of 2011, 51 of 2011, 60 of 2011, 23 of 2011, 47 of 2011, 55 of 2011 and 61 of 2011 before the District Judge, Karaikal.

6. From the materials available on record, it is seen that the case as put forward by the claimants before the Reference Court and this Court was that the compensation was not fixed by the Deputy Collector (Revenue) – cum – Land Acquisition Officer, on proper basis and that the valuation ought to have been done taking into consideration the locality and the area acquired. It is also his submission that the relevant sale deeds produced by the claimants though were discussed, while fixing up the value of the land, had not been considered. According to them, the acquired lands are well-developed and having road facilities and situate in a locality that had already developed into an industrial area. It is stated that there are numerous Small Scale Industries and Large Scale Industry like MRL are situate very near to the land acquired. The further case of the claimants is that Nagore Railway Station is very near to the land acquired and Government of India has laid Railway lines b