IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH AT INDORE BEFORE HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE PAVAN KUMAR DWIVEDI

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ON THE 20 OF FEBRUARY, 2026 FIRST APPEAL No. 65 of 2015 THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS Versus SURESHCHANDRA Appearance:

Shri Dinesh Singh Chouhan - Government Advocate for the appellant/State.

Shri Somesh Gobhuj - Advocate for the respondent.

ORDER This appeal has been filed by the appellant/State under the provisions of Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 being aggrieved by the award dated 17.02.2014 passed by the Reference Court in proceedings under Section 18 of the said Act.

2. The relevant facts of the case are that the land belonging to respondent Suresh Chandra was situated in Survey No.1299, admeasuring 0.20 Aare, and Survey No.1307, admeasuring 0.22 Aare, totaling 0.42 Aare, located at Village Makodi, Tehsil Gulana, District Shajapur (M.P.).

2.1 The State Government under the Makodi Talab submergence area project, issued notification in terms of Section 4(1) thereby issuing preliminary notification under Section 17(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, thereby declaring urgency for the acquisition of land on 11.12.2009.

Thereafter, notification under Section 6 of the said Act was issued on

14.05.2010 declaring that the land was required for public purpose.

2.2 The aforesaid land of the respondent was also acquired for the said project after following the due procedure. An award was passed by the Land Acquisition Officer on 30.11.2010, determining the rate at Rs.2,77,000/- per hectare for irrigated land and Rs.1,67,000/- per hectare for unirrigated land. Based on this calculation, compensation of Rs.1,01,651/- was awarded to the respondent Suresh Chandra. Being aggrieved by the said award, he filed application under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act.

2.3 The respondent before the reference Court in proceedings under Section 18 demonstrated by placing on record sale deed (Ex.P-7) executed on 31.03.2009 that the value of the land was substantially higher than the value assessed by the Land Acquisition Officer in the award dated

30.11.2010 (Ex.P-1).

2.4 In support of his submissions, respondent No.1 examined himself as PW-1 and also examined one Ishwar as PW-2. Through their evidence, it was demonstrated that 0.31 Aare of land was purchased by the said Ishwar on 31.03.2009 for a sale consideration of Rs.3,00,000/- in Village Makodi itself.

3. The State sought to rebut the said claim by examining one Jugal Kishore Choudhary Patwari who deposed in Para 2 of his cross examination that Village Makodi is inhibited in area of around 2-3 km. However, nothing substantial was stated by him with respect to the sale deed placed on record by the respondent (Ex.P-7) so as to establish that the said land was not situated near the land of the respondent, which was acquired by the State. The land purchased vide Ex.P-7 is situated in survey Nos. 822 and 823 of village Makodi, whereas the land acquired by the State from the respondent is situated in survey Nos.1299 and 1307 of the said village.

3.1 The reference Court had framed as many as 8 issues out of which issue No.2 is relevant for the purposes of the present appeal. The said issue pertains to the determination of the market value of the acquired land. After considering the evidence led by both the parties, the Reference Court recorded its findings in Paras 7 to 12 of the impugned award. The reference Court found that the Land Acquisition Officer had awarded compensation on the basis of the guidelines for the year 2009-10, the basis for determining the market value was the said guideline. However, in para 8, the Reference Court specifically recorded that the sale deed (Ex.P-7) was executed on 31.03.2009, whereas the preliminary notification under Section 4 of the Act was issued on 11.12.2009. Thus, the sale deed Ex.P-7 was executed much prior to the issuance of the notification.

3.2 Thus, the Court after relying on the judgments of the Hon'ble Apex Court as well as orders passed by this