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TMI Blog2019 (1) TMI 2049X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ereinafter referred as to the "Act") was published in the Official Gazette of Government of Maharashtra on 26.10.1995. Possession of the acquired land was taken by Acquiring Body before the date of publication of notification under section 4 (1) of the Act. The award was passed on 31.01.1999 and compensation was awarded at the rate of Rs. 1,48,500/ per Hectare for the acquired land i.e. Rs. 1.46 Paisa per square foot. Claimant received compensation under the protest and subsequently filed Land Reference for enhancement of compensation at the rate of Rs. 750/ per sq.ft. on the ground that Baswantpur is a developed village and on the date of notification the acquired land having N. A. potential, valued at the rate of more than Rs. 1,000/ per sq.ft. 3. By filing written statements (Exhs.6 and 7), respondent Nos. 1 and 2 disputed the claim of the claimant contending that the Special Land Acquisition Officer rightly assessed the market value of the acquired land on the date of publication of notification under Section 4 (1) of the Act and rightly awarded the compensation. 4. The learned Reference Court, after hearing both the parties and after c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t value of the land is to be assessed taking into account its value as it occurs on the date of notification under Section 4 of the Act. He submits that the compensation is to be determined after considering the existing use of the land, geographical situation, location of the land along with its advantages and disadvantages. He has also placed reliance on the case of "Chimanlal Hargovinddas Vs. Special Land Acquisition Officer, Poona" [ 1988 (3) SCC 751] to draw attention of this Court towards the guideline principles settled by the Apex code for determining the market value of the acquired land. 8. Before touching to the merits of the matter the guidelines principles laid down by the Apex Court in the case of "Chimanlal Hargovinddas Vs. Special Land Acquisition Officer, Poona" (supra) need to be considered, which are as follows : "(1) A reference under section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act is not an appeal against the award and the Court cannot take into account the material relied upon by the Land Acquisition officer in his Award unless the same material is produced and proved before the Court. (2) So also the Award of the Land Acquisition officer is not to be treated ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ces which provide the index of market value the price reflected therein may be taken as the norm and the market value of the land under acquisition may be deduced by making suitable adjustments for the plus and minus factors visavis land under acquisition by placing the two in juxtaposition. (12) A balancesheet of plus and minus factors may be drawn for this purpose and the relevant factors may be evaluated in terms of price variation as a prudent purchaser would do. (13) The market value of the land under acquisition has there after to be deduced by loading the price reflected in the instance taken as norm for plus factors and unloading it for minus factors. Plus factors Minus factors 1. smallness of size. 1. largeness of area. 2. proximity to a road. 2. situation in the interior at a distances from the Road. 3. frontage on a road. 3. narrow strip of land with very small frontage compared to death. 4. nearness to developed area 4. lower level requiring the depressed portion to be filled up. 5. regular shape. 5. remoteness from developed locality. 6. level visavis land under acquisition. 6. some special disadvantageous factor which ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , Latur is also useless piece of evidence, as he has not placed on record the joint measurement map of the acquired land. 14. Even the Government notification (Exh.65) does not show that Survey No. 17 was included within the municipal limit of Latur. Therefore, by no stretch of imagination it can be said that the acquired land being within the municipal area of city Latur, fetches higher value on the date of publication of notification. On the other hand, from the cross examination of the claimant (PW1), it emerges that the village Baswantpur is at the distance of 4 to 5 kms. from Latur. She has also admitted that the sale deeds have been executed in her village Baswantpur. However, she did not file any sale instance of the land situated at Baswantpur before the Reference Court. Thus, the oral testimony of the claimant (PW1) is not sufficient to hold that the acquired land fetches higher value than awarded by the Special Land Acquisition Officer. 15. However, in this appeal the claimant has filed copy of judgment delivered by the same Judge in L.A.R. No. 913/2000 to show that for Survey No. 43 situated at village Baswantpur the compensation was awarded at ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... "Chimanlal Vs. S.L.A.O". (supra), the sale instance (Exh. X2) can be relied on to determine the market price of the acquired land on the date of publication of notification under Section 4 (1) of the Act. 17. However, it cannot be ignored that the sale instance (Exh. X2) is of small piece of land out of survey No. 17. The Apex Court in the case of "Lucknow Development Authority Vs. Krishna Gopal Lahori and others" (AIR 2008 SC 399), observed that, "where large area is the subjectmatter of acquisition, rate at which small plots are sold cannot be said to be a safe criteria. It cannot, however, be laid down as an absolute proposition than in such cases, the rates fixed for the small plots cannot be the basis for fixation of the rate. For example, where there is no other material it may in appropriate cases be open to the adjudicating Court to make comparison of the prices paid for small plots of land. However, in such cases necessary deductions / adjustments have to be made while determining the prices". 18. In the case at hand, no evidence has been laid by the respondents to prove that other sale instances of the land situated at village Baswantpur are availab ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... espondent Nos. 1 and 2 do jointly and severally pay compensation to the claimant for the acquired land i.e. Survey No. 17, admeasuring 1.01. Hectare (1,09,989 sq.ft.) situated at village Baswantpur at the rate of Rs. 27/ (Rupees Twenty Seven) per sq. ft. (iii) The claimant is entitled to component under Section 23 (1A) of the Land Acquisition Act at the rate of 12 % per annum on the market value of the acquired land from the date of notification i.e. 26.10.1995 to passing of award dt. 31.01.1999. (iv) The claimant is also entitled to solatium of 30% on the market value of the acquired land, under Section 23 (2) of the Act. (v) The claimant is also entitled to interest under Section 28 of the Land Acquisition Act on enhanced (excess) compensation, solatium and component at the rate of 9% per annum from the date of award i.e. 31.01.1999 for the period of first year and thereafter from 01.02.2000, at the rate of 15% per annum till the date of deposit of entire compensation amount in the Court by the Acquiring Body or State. (vi) The award be drawn up accordingly". 22. Appeal is disposed of in the abovesaid terms. Parties to bear their respective ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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