JUDGMENT :

Misra, J. - The Plaintiff's suit of 1951, claiming damages at Rs. 60,000/- against the State of Orissa, having been dismissed, he has come up in the present appeal. The Plaintiff's case is that villages Rengalipali and Raghunathpali in the district of Sambalpur belonged to him; that there was a notification u/s 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act (Central Act I of 1894) issued by the Government of Orissa for carrying out survey and other allied acts in connection with the Hirakud Dam Project, as provided by Section 4(2) of the said Act; that the Officers authorised in the said notification to carry out the survey, instead of confining their actions to the actual survey, entered upon the Plaintiff's lands from April to October 1948 and caused unwarranted damages to it and fell trees, for which no payment was made or tendered; that in village Rengalipali, trees worth Rs. 42,766-8-0 were cut, and in village Raghunathpali, trees worth Rs. 14,271/- were cut.

Besides, certain pits were dug and roads were opened over paddy fields which caused to the Plaintiff damages worth Rs. 1090/- Claiming interest at Rs. 1872-8-0, the Plaintiff put his total claim at Rs. 60,300/. The defence was