TMI Blog2007 (8) TMI 648X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nd so on. Viewed from that angle, we are in agreement with the finding that the Awarding Officer has been generous in his award of compensation in all these cases. Appeal dismissed. - C.A. 5355 OF 2006 - - - Dated:- 17-8-2007 - P.K. BALASUBRAMANYAN AND D.K. JAIN, JJ. JUDGMENT 1. These appeals involve the correctness of the determination of the compensation payable to the land owners in acquisitions under the Land Acquisition Act at the instance of the Moradabad Development Authority in respect of the lands comprised in three villages, Harthala, Mukkarrabpur and Sonakpur. The Notification under Section 4(1) of the Act in respect of most of the lands in Harthala village was issued in the month of March, 1990 and in respect of one block of lands on 13.9.1991. The Land Acquisition Officer while passing the award determined the compensation at Rs. 80 per square meter. This was enhanced to Rs. 270 per square meter on references made under Section 18 of the Act. On appeals, the High Court set aside the enhancement given by the Reference Court and restored the award made by the Land Acquisition Officer. Feeling aggrieved thereby, the land owners have come up with most of these a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... without specifying how distant, the Land Acquisition Officer brushed aside these sale deeds on the ground that the lands were situated at quite a far distance from the acquired lands. Regarding certain other sale deeds which were proximate to the date of notification, the Awarding Officer found that the rates ranged between Rs. 1.83 per square meter to Rs. 28.39 per square meter and that in one sale deed, the value was shown at Rs. 17 per square meter. It was conceded that these lands were not at a far distance from the acquired lands. But it was stated by the Awarding Officer that it did not appear justifiable for him to adopt these rates. For what reason, it was not disclosed. We must say that the approach of the Awarding Officer in rejecting these sale instances is open to very serious criticism. The least that was expected of him, was for him to give cogent and sustainable reasons for discarding these sale instances. He thereafter proceeded to rely upon a sale deed dated 25.10.1989 under which one Ramshankar Tandon sold 100 square meters to one Usha Thama for Rs. 8,000/- From this, he found that the land value came to Rs. 80 per square meter. He only noticed that the sale was ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h an aspect. It was expected to discuss each of those sale instances, compare the lands contained therein with those that were involved in the acquisition, with reference to the advantages and disadvantages, the extents, the nature of the land, the facilities available and other relevant matters before determining what would be the just compensation payable to the land owners in the present acquisition. We must say that no such attempt had been made by the Reference Court and its reasoning smacks of special pleading. The Reference Court concluded that Rs. 270 per square meter would be the compensation payable and enhanced the compensation to that extent. 7. The High Court referred to the decision of this Court which indicated that the burden was on the claimants to establish that the compensation awarded to them by the Award was not adequate and held that viewed from that angle, the claimants have failed to establish any claim for enhancement. In fact, the High Court was inclined to find that even the sum of Rs. 80 per square meter awarded by the Awarding Officer was on the high side or excessive, but since Section 25 of the Act precluded the State from questioning it, it was hel ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ther facilities available. In fact, some of the sale instances indicate that the prices were only at the range of Rs. 11 per square meter up to Rs.27 per square meter. On the facts of this case, we are of the view that the contention that it is not as if sale instances of small extents had to be completely ignored, does not lead the claimants far. In any event, it cannot be held that the High Court was in error in not relying on sale instances of small extents in assessing the compensation payable. 9. As held by this Court in various decisions, the burden is on the claimants to establish that the amounts awarded to them by the Land Acquisition Officer are inadequate and that they are entitled to more. That burden had to be discharged by the claimants and only if the initial burden in that behalf was discharged, the burden shifted to the State to justify the award. The Reference Court, in our view, could not give any adequate or tenable reasons for adopting the value it did. No evidence was clearly or properly discussed to justify a finding that the claimants had made out a case for enhancement of compensation. As observed by the High Court, it appears that on the materials availa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a small extent, which was not distant from the acquired lands, to borrow the language of the Awarding Officer. We are inclined to see some force in the stand adopted by the High Court that the Awarding Officer himself had been generous in his award. Since he has adopted such a rate, the question is whether this Court should interfere with the decision of the High Court restoring that Award or award any further compensation. The scope of interference by this Court was delineated by the decision in Thakur Kanta Prasad Singh (dead) by L.Rs. Vs. State of Bihar [A.I.R. 1976 S.C. 2219], wherein this Court held that there was an element of guess work inherent in most cases involving determination of the market value of the acquired land. If the judgment of the High Court revealed that it had taken into consideration the relevant factors prescribed by the Act, in appeal under Article 133 of the Constitution of India, assessment of market value thus made should not be disturbed by the Supreme Court. For the purpose of deciding whether we should interfere, we have taken note of the position adopted by the Awarding Officer, the stand adopted by the Reference Court and the relevant aspects dis ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ly. They were enhanced to Rs. 290 per square meter and to Rs.350/- to Rs.390/- by the Reference Court. In spite of the lands being recorded as agricultural lands, the Reference Court proceeded to award compensation on the basis that the lands are Abadi lands. Other than the oral evidence of certain witnesses, which, according to us, cannot form the foundation for any enhancement, what was relied on was the awards made in some other cases. The documents produced were not shown to be sale of lands comparable to the lands acquired. The Reference Court proceeded to enhance the compensation to Rs. 290/- per square meter without any acceptable legal evidence in support. The High Court found that there was no basis for enhancement and that the claimants had not been able to show that the Land Acquisition Officer did not award the proper compensation. The High Court was obviously right in proceeding on the basis that the burden was on the claimants to prove their claim for enhancement. The High Court thus took the view based on the materials, that it was a fit case where the award of the Land Acquisition Officer should be restored. 16. We find on a scrutiny of the relevant materials in t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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