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1970 (10) TMI 79

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..... 8,700/- as compensation for the land, and ₹ 800/- for trees. The amount of compensation awarded (inclusive of the statutory solatium of 15% under Section 23(2) of the Land Acquisition Act) was ₹ 11,95,425/-. 3. The appellants applied for a reference under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act as amended by the Calcutta Improvement Act, 1911. The reference was heard by the Calcutta Improvement. Tribunal. The Tribunal enhanced the amount of compensation by ₹ 2,54,240/- and 15% solatium thereon. 4. The appellants and the State of West Bengal appealed to the High Court of Calcutta. The appeal filed by the appellants was dismissed and the appeal of the State was partly allowed. The High Court awarded to the appellants ₹ 11,59,430/- as compensation and statutory solatium of 15% in addition thereto. Against the award made by the High Court, this appeal has been preferred by the appellants, with certificate granted by the High Court. 5. Compensation for the land was determined under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, as modified by the Calcutta Improvement Act, 1911. By the Calcutta Improvement Act, certain modifications are made in the Land Acquisition Act, .....

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..... ion Act, the following shall be deemed to be added, namely: (3) For the purpose of Clause 1 of Sub-section (1) of this section: (4) The market value of the land shall be deemed to be the market value according to the disposition of the land at the date of the publication of the declaration relating thereto under Section 6. There were six other sub-clauses which are not relevant to this appeal. 6. The land of the appellants was notified for acquisition to ensure improved facilities in respect of the area covered by Improvement Scheme No. VI (Manicktola) of the Calcutta Improvement Trust. For improving the area contiguous to the area sought to be acquired in these proceedings, Scheme No. IV-M was undertaken in 1941 by the Improvement Trust. The boundary of Scheme No. IV-M included a portion of premises No. 104, Narkeldanga Main Road. For the purpose of that scheme some lands covered by the scheme were notified for acquisition. No part of premises No. 104 was included in the notification. The acquisition of premises No. 104 was undertaken under Scheme No. VI-M in 1947. 7. In determining the market value of premises No. 104 the Tribunal followed, what is called 'the .....

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..... of the front belt at ₹ 2,703/-. Premises No. 31 was within Scheme No. VI-M and was notified for acquisition under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, on August 1, 1946. The date of the declaration under Section 6 was June 12, 1947. The Collector allowed in respect of premises No. 31, compensation at ₹ 2,703/- per cottah. The Tribunal regarded the award for acquisition of premises No. 31 as furnishing good evidence of the market value of the land in the first belt on the Kankurgachi Road. No allowance for the benefit of underground drainage connections and other amenities was made in regard to that land. In respect of the second belt on the Kankurgachi Road the price was taken at 75% per cottah of the value of the land per cottah in the front belt. The total amount determined for the Kankurgachi belts was ₹ 2,87,000/-, and adding thereto the price of the front belt on Narkeldanga Main Road at ₹ 3,400/- and the rear belts at 75% and 50% which worked out at ₹ 11,80,750/-, the total amount determined by the Tribunal was ₹ 14,77,650/-, but since a very large area of land was acquired, the Tribunal was of the view that a deduction of 12 1/2% of the .....

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..... cer to take into consideration the potentialities of the land, nor does it allow the Land Acquisition Officer to consider the possible betterment fees. It provided for granting compensation not on the basis of what the value actually is but on the basis of what the value must be deemed to be and in considering that we have to take into account the disposition of the land. The word 'disposition' means how the land could be disposed of at that time. It does not mean the existing use of the lands but mean its disposing power 'with the arrangement as it was on that date'. The expression market value according to the disposition of the land apparently means the value of the land in a hypothetical market which a willing purchaser may in the prevailing conditions pay for the land to a willing vendor, taking into consideration its situation and advantages. In determining the disposition the hypothetical purchaser would normally take into consideration the advantages of the situation and the potentialities of the land, for the market value of land, especially in urban areas, depends upon its situation, special adaptability, advantages and inherent potentiality in the li .....

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..... n speculation without any basis for such speculation. 14. It is common ground that In Calcutta the period between the years 1941 and 1947 was abnormal. During this period first there was bombing of some parts of the town by the Japanese Air Force. This resulted in a large exodus from the town. After the migrant returned, there were communal riots which were followed by the partition of the Province of Bengal. Notwithstanding these abnormal events, in the price level of the land there was an upward trend which was accentuated by the influx of refugees from East Pakistan. It was found by the Tribunal that as a result of the inter-action of these events there was between 1941 and 1947 a rise of 80% in the value of the land. This, the High Court called, the increase in the price of the land on account of the time factor . This 80% increase was not restricted to the area which was served by the improvement schemes. In the view of the Tribunal there was a general rise in the price level of the land all over the town, and with that view the High Court agreed. But the High Court still held that in respect of the land benefited by schemes Nos. IV-M1 and IV-M2 the rise in land values sho .....

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..... g or constructing buildings, clearing bustees, executing housing schemes and schemes for the rehousing of persons displaced by the execution of improvement schemes. The object of the Act was to secure improvement of the town by opening up congested areas and making available amenities such as wider roads, underground drainage, parks and other urban facilities. The locality of the Narkeldanga Main Road and Kankurgachi Road was a congested locality. It had not the benefit of underground drainage. The land was uneven and at several places water used to accumulate. In 1941 a scheme for providing better amenities for the entire area was laid out, and a part of the land covered by the scheme was notified for acquisition. Provision for better amenities inevitably reflects in the upward trend in the price of the land in the locality covered by the scheme and the adjacent areas. The High Court recorded no reasons for assuming that the increase in the price of lands served by the improvement schemes and not served by the schemes will be the same. In effect the High Court discarded, without assigning any reasons, the appreciation resulting from the application of the improvement schemes. .....

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..... . The valuation of the land was based on the agreement between the claimant and the Improvement Trust Board. The Collector accepted the agreement, which, he was not bound to but could accept and made an award on the basis of the agreed figure. The award had some evidentiary value. The land was being acquired for the Improvement Trust. The Improvement Trust is a statutory body, exercise of the power of which is controlled by the provisions of the Act. Even granting that the order made by the Collector pursuant to the agreement between the Board and the claimant be not regarded as an award, the order made by consent furnished good and cogent evidence of an agreement to purchase property at its market value at the date of the declaration under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act. Even if an order made by the Collector valuing land with the consent of the acquiring authority and the claimant may not strictly be regarded as an award made on a consideration of all the relevant materials, the agreement formally reached between the acquiring authority and the claimant agreeing to a certain amount to be paid as compensation for the land acquired is good evidence of the market value of the .....

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