dated 28.09.1999 passed by the Court of learned Additional District Judge, Hoshiarpur (for short, “Reference Court”), whereby, reference petition preferred at the instance of landowner invoking Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for brevity, “1894 Act”), was partly allowed.

3. Brief facts of the case are that some land owned by the appellant-landowner, situated in the revenue estate of Village Roran, District Hoshiarpur, was acquired vide notifications dated 23.02.1989 and 30.03.1989, issued under Sections 4 & 6 of the 1894 Act, for the public purpose namely, “proposed Kandhi canal”. The Land Acquisition Collector vide its Award dated 22.03.1991, assessed the market value of the acquired land at the rate of Rs.44.11 per marla for barani land, Rs.43.75 per marla for banjar qadin land and Rs.56.41 per marla for chahi land besides grant of other statutory benefits.

4. Feeling dissatisfied with the award passed by the Land Acquisition Collector, the landowner preferred reference petition under Section 18 of the 1894 Act, seeking enhancement of compensation. Upon consideration of the material available on record, the learned Reference Court vide its award dated 28.09.1999, part