Full Judgment Text
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CASE NO.:
Appeal (civil) 1288 of 2006
PETITIONER:
Rishi Pal Singh & Ors.
RESPONDENT:
Meerut Development Authority & Anr.
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 24/02/2006
BENCH:
Arun Kumar & R.V. Raveendran
JUDGMENT:
J U D G M E N T
(Arising out of SLP (C ) No.18358 of 2004)
WITH
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 1289 OF 2006
(Arising out of SLP(C ) No.19956 of 2004),
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 1290 OF 2006
(Arising out of SLP(C) No. 14250 of 2004),
CIVIL APPEAL NO.1291 OF 2006
(Arising out of SLP(C ) No.19778 of 2004) and
CIVIL APPEAL NO.1292 OF 2006
(Arising out of SLP (C ) No.777 of 2005
ARUN KUMAR, J.
Leave granted in all these Special Leave Petitions.
These appeals are directed against the judgment of the High Court
whereby the High Court set aside the judgment of the Reference Court
passed under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act and remanded the case
to the Reference Court for fresh determination of the market value of the
acquired land.
Briefly, the facts are that a large tract of land was acquired vide a
notification dated 14th August, 1987 under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition
Act. The acquired land falls within the municipal limits of the city of
Meerut (U.P.). The Special Land Acquisition Officer (SLAO) noted the
potentiality of the acquired land for purposes of building activity in his
award dated 22nd February, 1990. He however, fixed the market value of the
acquired land at Rs.30/- per square yard. A reference under Section 18 of
the Act at the instance of the claimants was decided by the learned District
Judge, Meerut vide judgment dated 23rd November, 2002. The claimants
were claiming compensation at the rate of Rs.270/- per square yard. The
District Judge however, determined the rate of compensation as Rs.126/- per
square yard besides the statutory benefits. Both the parties i.e. the claimants
as well as the respondent, Meerut Development Authority appealed against
the said judgment of the Reference Court in the High Court of Allahabad.
The appeals filed by the Meerut Development Authority were decided by the
impugned order which is similar in all the five appeals before us. The cross
appeals of the claimants are said to be still pending in the High Court.
Learned counsel for the appellant argued that there was no reason for
the High Court to remand the matter to the Reference Court for fresh
determination of the market value of the land specially in view of the fact
that the learned District Judge while deciding the reference under Section 18
of the Act had taken into consideration all relevant factors and after full
discussion had arrived at the figure of Rs.126/- per sq.yard. Neither party
sought any opportunity to lead fresh or further evidence. According to the
learned counsel, the High Court ought to have decided the case on the basis
of material already on record and the High Court being the appellate court
was required to reappraise the evidence and decide the matter accordingly.
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More so if in pursuance of the impugned order the reference Court was to
make fresh determination, the parties would have right of appeal to the High
Court against such an order. In order to avoid this extra burden on the
parties as well as on the court, it would have been more appropriate that the
High Court should have decided the matter itself rather than remand it to the
Reference Court. We may note here that before this Court also neither party
expressed any desire to lead further evidence. The case had to be decided
simply on basis of material already on record.
On merits the learned counsel submits with reference to the impugned
judgment of the High Court that only two reasons have been given by the
High Court for setting aside the order of the Reference Court and remanding
the case back to it. First reason is that exemplars relied upon by the
Reference Court are of small plots of land whereas the acquisition is of a
large tracts of land i.e. about 180 acres. The second reason given in the
impugned judgment for remand is that exemplars filed by the acquiring
authority i.e. appellants before us, were not considered by the Reference
Court. The learned counsel for the appellants has taken us through the
judgment of the Reference Court to show that both the reasons given by the
High Court in its impugned order are factually incorrect. With respect to the
first reason, that is, exemplars of small plots have been taken into
consideration by the Reference Court, in the first instance our attention was
invited to some judgments of this Court to urge that there is no absolute bar
to exemplars of small plots being considered provided adequate discount is
given in this behalf. Thus there is no bar in law to exemplars of small plots
being considered. In an appropriate case, specially when other relevant or
material evidence is not available, such exemplars can be considered after
making adequate discount. This is a case in which appropriate exemplars
are not available. The Reference Court has made adequate discount for
taking the exemplars of smaller plots into consideration. It appears that the
attention of the High Court was not drawn to this part of the judgment of the
Reference Court which has resulted in the High court completely
overlooking the relevant discussion in the judgment of the Reference Court.
Regarding the second point that exemplars of the appellant before us
were not taken into consideration, again, the High Court is factually wrong
and this mistake appears to have resulted from the fact that the judgment of
the Reference Court was not properly brought to the notice of the High
Court. The Reference Court has referred to the exemplars of the acquiring
authority but has observed that since they have not been proved on record,
they cannot be looked into. The learned counsel for the acquiring authority
was unable to say that this observation of the Reference Court was factually
incorrect nor he could show that the exemplars filed by his client had been
proved on record. In fact we requested him to show these exemplars to us.
He completely ignored our request. Therefore, we find nothing wrong in the
Reference Court ignoring the exemplars said to have been filed by the
acquiring authority.
From the above, it is clear that the High Court judgment was passed
in a mechanical manner without properly appreciating the judgment of the
Reference Court. The appeal before the High Court was the first appeal and
the High Court, in our view, ought to have examined the impugned
judgment and the material on record before setting it aside. Both the reasons
given for setting aside the judgment of the Reference Court are factually
incorrect.
The learned counsel for the appellant strongly urged before us that we
should decide the appeals on merits specially in view of the fact that long
delay has already taken place and the land owners are being deprived of the
compensation due to them on account of compulsory acquisition of their
land. However keeping in view the fact that the cross appeals of the land
owners are still pending in the High Court and the High Court being the
Court of first appeal in such matters which ought to give its findings based
on appreciation of evidence, we are persuaded to remand the matter to the
High Court for decision on merits. The impugned judgment of the High
court setting aside the order of the Reference Court is hereby quashed. The
High court will hear and decide these appeals as well as the cross appeals of
the claimants afresh in accordance with the law as early as possible. Any
observation made in this judgment need not influence the judgment of the
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High Court on merits. The appeals are disposed of in above terms.