IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

1. RFA No.6357 of 2014 (O&M)

with other connected cases Date of Decision: 30.10.2025 SANJAY AND ANR ......Appellants Vs STATE OF HARYANA & ANR ...Respondent(s)

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HARKESH MANUJA Present: Mr. Adarsh Jain, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Kul Bhushan Sharma, Advocate and Ms. Amandeep Kaur, Advocate for the appellants.

Mr. Abhinash Jain, D.A.G., Haryana.

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HARKESH MANUJA, J. (Oral)

[1]. Vide this common order, a bunch of 42 Regular First Appeals, details of which are given in the footnote of this judgment, are being decided as all the appeals have arisen out of common acquisition/Award involving identical facts and question of law. For the sake of brevity, facts are being taken from RFA No.6357 of 2014.

[2]. By way of present appeal(s), challenge has been laid to the Award dated 19.03.2014 passed by the learned Addl. District Judge, Palwal (hereinafter to be referred as the ‘Reference Court’), whereby Reference Petition filed under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short ‘the 1894 Act’) at the instance of the landowners was partly allowed while granting them the benefit of enhanced market value @ Rs.32,00,000/- per acre qua the acquired land besides awarding statutory benefits/interest as provided under the 1894 Act.

[3]. Briefly stating, in the present case(s), land measuring 392 Kanals 9 Marlas situated within the revenue estate of village Khusrupur (Kushlipur), Tehsil and District Palwal, came to be acquired vide Notifications dated 22.08.2008 and 02.03.2009 issued under Sections 4 & 6 of the 1894 Act respectively for the public purpose namely for construction of Mini Secretariat/Judicial Complex and Residential Buildings, followed by an Award passed by the Land Acquisition Collector (for short ‘the LAC’) on 18.08.2009 considering the recommendations made by the Divisional Level Committee, thereby determining the market value of the acquired land as Rs.22,00,000/- per acre for all kinds of land.

[4]. Aggrieved thereof, the appellant(s)-landowners invoked Reference under Section 18 of the 1894 Act, which came to be partly allowed by the learned Reference Court vide its award dated 19.03.2014, thereby granting them the enhanced compensation @ Rs.32,00,000/- per acre besides awarding all other statutory benefits/interest in their favour under the 1894 Act.

Dis-satisfied with the Award passed by the learned Reference Court, the present appeals were preferred at the instance of appellants/landowners.

[5]. Impugning the aforesaid Award, learned Senior counsel appearing for the appellants/landowners submits that having recorded a positive finding of fact to the effect that the land under acquisition was abutting National Highway No.2; leading from Delhi to Mathura been surrounded by already developed area having all basic amenities existing thereupon, the learned Reference Court went wrong while adopting a procedure of taking average of the sale instances produced on record by both the sides rather than taking into account the highest of the sale exemplar in the form of Ex.P-9 dated 13.08.2008 for land measuring 05 Kanals 07 Marlas whereby the sale price per acre was Rs.1,49,53,271/-. Learned Senior counsel also points out that the land forming part of Ex.P-9, situated in the revenue estate of village Dholagarh falls within the municipal limits of Palwal and the land under acquisition also situated within the municipal limits of Palwal only.

[5.2]. Learned Senior counsel further submits that in the given facts wherein the acquisition was already carried out for the public purpose namely for construction of Mini Secretariat/Judicial Complex and Residential Buildings, the deduction made @ 40% was highly excessive especially when neither the respondent/State was going to suffer any loss of land nor any costs towards providing of additional infrastructural amenities. He also points out that the deduction made on account of Rehabilitation Oustees Policy, by the lea