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IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY
(V.D. Tulzapurkar and P.S. Shah JJ.)
CHINDHA VITHAL SONAWANE - Appellant
Versus
SPECIAL LAND ACQUISITION OFFICER - Respondent
Advocates appeared
For appellant - V.M. Limaye.
For respondent – S.C. Pratap, Asstt. Govt. Pleader.
LAND ACQUISITION - COMPENSATION - RELEVANT FACTORS - POST-NOTIFICATION SALES - RELEVANCY - SALE INSTANCES - APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLE LAID DOWN IN ATMARAM V. COLLECTOR OF NAGPUR - INTERPRETATION OF CLAUSE FIFTHLY OF SECTION 24 OF THE LAND ACQUISITION ACT, 1894.
Fact of the Case:
Two separate land acquisition proceedings were initiated under two different Notifications issued almost simultaneously, one for the project of Market Yard of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Malegaon and the other for a Technical High School at Malegaon. The claimants challenged the compensation awarded by the Special Land Acquisition Officer and the Civil Court on the ground that the land value awarded was grossly inadequate and that the lands should have been valued on the basis that they were non-agricultural building sites.
Finding of the Court:
The Court held that the sale instances relied upon by the claimants could not afford a comparable guide for fixing the valuation of the acquired lands and that the acquired lands should be valued on the basis that they were agricultural lands with some allowance for the building potentiality which was possessed by those lands. The Court further held that the principle laid down in Atmaram v. Collector of Nagpur was applicable to the facts of the case and that the claimants were entitled to the benefit of any increase in the value of the land acquired arising out of the acquisition set in motion qua their own lands, but that such benefit or advantage would have to be subject to making allowance for the benefit or advantage that had arisen on account of their own acquisition.
Issues: 1. Whether the sale instances relied upon by the claimants could afford a comparable guide for fixing the valuation of the acquired lands? 2. Whether the acquired lands should be valued on the basis that they were agricultural lands with some allowance for the building potentiality which was possessed by those lands? 3. Whether the principle laid down in Atmaram v. Collector of Nagpur was applicable to the facts of the case? 4. Whether the claimants were entitled to the benefit of any increase in the value of the land acquired arising out of the acquisition set in motion qua their own lands?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The Court held that the sale instances relied upon by the claimants could not afford a comparable guide for fixing the valuation of the acquired lands as they were post-notification sales and were divorced from the relevant date of the Notification by two to three years. 2. The Court held that the acquired lands should be valued on the basis that they were agricultural lands with some allowance for the building potentiality which was possessed by those lands, as the lands had been put to agricultural use and had not been developed for non-agricultural purposes. 3. The Court held that the principle laid down in Atmaram v. Collector of Nagpur was applicable to the facts of the case and that the claimants were entitled to the benefit of any increase in the value of the land acquired arising out of the acquisition set in motion qua their own lands, but that such benefit or advantage would have to be subject to making allowance for the benefit or advantage that had arisen on account of their own acquisition. 4. The Court held that the claimants were entitled to the benefit of any increase in the value of the land acquired arising out of the acquisition set in motion qua their own lands, but that such benefit or advantage would have to be subject to making allowance for the benefit or advantage that had arisen on account of their own acquisition.
Final Decision: The Court dismissed the appeals filed by the claimants and the State Government and upheld the decree passed by the Civil Court.
TULZAPURKAR Ag. C.J. - These three appeals arise out of the land acquisition proceedings that were initiated under two different Notifications issued almost simultaneously, one being for the-project of Market Yard of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Malegaon and the other for a Technical High School at Malegaon.
2. Part of Survey No.6 admeasuring 3 acres 18 gunthas and odd annas of Malegaon Camp belonging to claimant No. 1 (Chindha Vithal Sonawane), Survey No. 322 admeasuring 6 acres 19 gunthas belonging to claimant No.2 (Pandit Dongar Mali), Survey No. 323/1 admeasuring I acre 2 gunthas and odd annas belonging to claimant No.3 (Madhusudan Pandit Mali), Survey No. 323/2 admeasuring 19 gunthas belonging to claimant No.4 (Dongar Sadashiv Mali), Survey No. 324/1 admeasuring 5 acres 16 gunthas belonging to claimant No.5 (Nadarbai widow of Pandit Mali), Survey No. 324/2 admeasuring 4 acres 27 gunthas and Survey No. 325 admeasuring- 2 acres 35 gunthas and odd annas belonging to claimant No. 6 (Parvatibai widow of Dongar Mali) - the last 6 parcels being situate at Sangameshwar-were notified for acquisition for the project of Market Yard for the Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Malegaon. Section 4 Notification was published on September 12, 1957. Claimants Nos. 2 to 6 formed a group of themselves being the members of the same family though several parcels of land stood in their names separately. Pursuant to notice served on the claimants under section 9 of the Act the claimants lodged their claims for the value of the lands acquired, for trees standing thereon and for the crops which were also standing thereon at the material time. Claimant No. 1 who was the owner of Survey No.6 of Malegaon Camp claimed land value at the rate of Rs. 21,000 per acre while claimants Nos. 2 to 6 who were the owners of the other lands claimed land value at the rate of Rs. 30,000 per acre. By his award dated November 21, 1962 the _ Special Land Acquisition Officer awarded the land value to the claimants at rates ranging from Rs. 1,800 to Rs. 2,500 per acre in respect of these lands. Claimant No. 1 was not given any compensation for trees standing thereon while the other claimants were granted the price of trees at the rate of Rs. 5 per tree for such trees as were standing in each one's respective lands. For the standing crops claimant No.1 was awarded compensation of Rs. 340, claimant No.2 was awarded compensation of Rs. 730, claimant No.3 was awarded compensation of Rs. 80, claimant No.4 was awarded compensation of Rs. 400, claimant No. 5 was awarded compensation of Rs. 350 and claimant No.6 was awarded compensation of Rs. 225. Feeling aggrieved by the Award the claimants asked for a reference being made to the civil Court and the reference came to be numbered as Land Acquisition Reference No. 16 of 1963 in the Court of the Civil Judge, Senior Division Nasik. In the civil Court the claimants contended that the land value awarded by the Special Land Acquisition Officer at rates ranging from Rs. 1,800 to Rs. 2,500 per acre in respect of their lands was grossly inadequate, that having regard to the situation where their lands were situate and the building potentiality which each of their lands possessed it was an error to value the lands on the basis that they were agricultural lands and to make a small allowance for building potentiality and that the lands should have been valued on the basis that they were non-agricultural building sites and claimant No. 1 claimed the land value at Rs.25,000 per acre while claimants Nos. 2 to 6 claimed the land value at Rs. 30,000 per acre. They also disputed compensation awarded in respect of the trees standing in the acquired lands and claimed compensation at the rate of Rs. 50 per tree on the basis that the trees ought to have been valued having regard to the timber value. They also disputed the compensation that was awarded by the Special Land Acquisition Officer for the standing crops and clai
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