( 1. ) IN this appeal preferred under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, (for brevity the Act) the appellant, M. P. Housing Board, Rewa, through its Executive Engineer, has called in question the acceptability and penetrability of the award passed by the Reference Court on 3-1-1993 in land acquisition case No. 67/91.

( 2. ) FOR the purpose of construction of the houses of the M. P. Housing Board (in short the Board) a notification under Section 4 (1) read with Section 17 (1) of the Act was issued on 1-7-1983 for 6. 07 hectares of land situated at Dhekaha in Khasra No. 250. A notification under Section 6 of the Act was issued on 12-8-1993. In pursuance of the notification advance possession was taken on 15-2-1996. On receipt of the due notice the land owners putforth their claim and award was passed by Land Acquisition Officer on 7-8-1996 and he determined the valuation at the rate of Rs. 36,400/- per acre. A sum of Rs. 6,82,924/- was awarded by the Land Acquisition Officer which was received by the respondent Nos. 1 to 8 under protest on 12-9-1986. An application under Section 18 of the Act was filed for referring the matter to the Civil Court, and accordingly the