Mp Housing And Infrastructure Board Rewa vs Sita Devi

NEUTRAL CITATION NO. 2026:MPHC-JBP:66195
1 FA-2160-2024
IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
AT JABALPUR

BEFORE
HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE VIVEK JAIN
th
ON THE 25 OF AUGUST, 2026
FIRST APPEAL No. 2160 of 2024
MP HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE BOARD REWA
Versus
SITA DEVI AND OTHERS
Appearance:
Shri Abhishek Singh- Advocate for the appellant.
Shri B K Shukla - Advocate for the respondents.
WITH
FIRST APPEAL No. 1677 of 2024
SEETA DEVI AND OTHERS
Versus
EXECUTIVE ENGINEER M.P. AND OTHERS
Appearance:
Shri Abhishek Singh- Advocate for the appellant.
Shri B K Shukla - Advocate for the respondents.
FIRST APPEAL No. 2022 of 2024
MADHYA PRADESH HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE
DEVELOPMENT BOARD
Versus
BAALMIK PRASAD TIWARI AND OTHERS
Appearance:
Shri Abhishek Singh- Advocate for the appellant.
Shri B K Shukla - Advocate for the respondents.
ORDER
Learned counsel for appellants/MP Housing and Infrastructure Board
Signature Not Verified
Signed by: S HUSHMAT
HUSSAIN
Signing time: 01-09-2026
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at the outset submits that for the same project and for the same Village,

bunch of First Appeals led by FA No.538/2014 has been decided by this
Court on 03.08.2026 whereby not only the appeals of the Housing Board
were decided but the appeals of land losers were also decided holding the per
square rate as Rs.15.6 in cases where the land acquired is more than 1.00
acres and Rs.19.5 per sq.ft. where the land acquired is less than 1.00 acres.
2. In view of the aforesaid, this Court passed the following orders:-

These batch of first Appeals has been filed by the M.P.
Housing and Infrastructure Board ("Housing Board" for short) as
well as by the land losers being aggrieved by the awards passed by
the Reference Court in relation to the same project and acquisition
of lands in the same vicinity. For the sake of convenience, facts
and reference to dosuments is taken from F.A.No.539 of 2014.
2. The Housing Board is aggrieved by the enhancement
made by the Reference Court which is the subject matter in four of
the appeals and in one of the appeals, i.e, F.A.No.1103 of 2015,
the land loser is before this court seeking enhancement of the
compensation amount. The methodology for enhancement and
adjudication of estimated value of land being same in all the cases,
therefore all these cases have been taken up together and are being
decided by this common judgment.
3. The lands were acquired for the project of M.P. Housing
Board which intended to execute a Housing Scheme on the lands
Signature Not Verified
Signed by: S HUSHMAT
HUSSAIN
Signing time: 01-09-2026
10:46:11

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in question situated at Village Padra, Tehsil Hujur, District Rewa

and for execution of the Housing Scheme of M.P. Housing and
Infrastructure Board, the State Government acquired the lands and
the acquired lands were handed over to the M.P. Housing
Board. The Collector assessed the compensation to the tune of
Rs.95,200/- per acre for unirrigated lands and Rs.1,23,760/- per
acre for irrigated lands which was felt to be grossly inadequate by
the land losers and therefore they initiated reference proceedings.
4. The Reference Court by the identical awards, arrived at a
conclusion that the lands were having potential to be developed
into residential plots on the date of issuance of notification under
Section 4 of Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and further arrived at a
conclusion that looking to the other sale deeds immediately
preceding the date of issuance of said notification, the average
value seems to be Rs.35/- per sq. ft. and by deducting 30%
towards Development cost, the Reference Court held that the rate
of Rs.24.50 per sq. ft. or Rs.10,78,000/- per acre would be
appropriate and in this manner, the enhancement has been ordered
by the Reference Court.
5. Learned Counsel for the Appellant/M.P. Housing and
Infrastructure Development Board (for short, hereinafter referred
to as Housing Board) has vehemently argued that the Reference
Court has gravely erred in interfering in the matter of adjudication
of compensation which was made by the Collector. It is argued
Signature Not Verified
Signed by: S HUSHMAT
HUSSAIN
Signing time: 01-09-2026
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that the adjudication was fully legal, valid and in accordance with

law which ought not to have been interfered with by the Reference
Court. It is argued that the lands were not diverted lands and in
absence of lands being diverted, it could not have been held by the
Reference Court that the lands were having potential to be
developed into residential plots. It is argued that unless the lands
had been diverted, there was no reason for any potential in the
lands to be developed as residential plots.
6. It is argued that the exemplar sale deeds which have been
relied by the land losers Ex.P-5 to Ex.P-11 are the sale deeds of
diverted lands and for that reason, the lands have been sold at per
square feet rate but since the lands in question were undiverted
lands, there was no reason for the lands to have been assessed per
square feet rate which is usually done in case of residential or
commercial lands. Therefore, it is argued that the impugned order
passed by the Reference Court is palpably and legal and should be
interfered with by this Court and the assessment made by the
Collector on the basis of guidelines/circle rates for irrigated and
unirrigated lands in the village be maintained to do complete
justice between the parties.
7. Per contra, learned counsel for the land losers have
vehemently argued that the assessment made by Reference Court
is in fact at a lower side because some of the exemplar sale deeds
even had a square feet value of Rs.50/- like Ex.P-5 and Ex.P-9. It
Signature Not Verified
Signed by: S HUSHMAT
HUSSAIN
Signing time: 01-09-2026
10:46:11

NEUTRAL CITATION NO. 2026:MPHC-JBP:66195
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is argued that the sale deeds executed for the lands in vicinity

cannot be bifurcated into residential and commercial sale deeds
because though the sale deed Ex.P-5 may be the sale deed of
commercial land but the sale deed Ex.P-7 is a sale deed of
residential land and it is also for Rs.50/- per square feet. Even if
the sale deeds are bifurcable, then also the lands were having
potential to be developed as commercial lands on the date of
Section 4 notification and all the exemplar sale deeds have to be
taken into consideration. It is argued that the Reference Court has
ordered exorbitant reduction of area towards development cost to
the tune of 30% and this reduction is that exorbitant value and in
fact the cases are fit to be granted compensation @ Rs.40/- to
Rs.50/- per square feet.
8. This Court has heard learned counsel for the rival parties
at length and perused the record.
9. In the present case, the acquisition in question was for
execution of a Housing Scheme by M.P. Housing Board and the
date of notification under Section 4 of Land Acquisition Act, 1894
(for short, Act of 1894) was 10.05.1991. Notification under
Section 6 was published on 14.06.1991 and award was pronounced
30.04.1993 which was approved by the Commissioner on
07.06.1993.
10. The acquisition was for development of land in a
residential colony for execution of a Housing project by Housing
Signature Not Verified
Signed by: S HUSHMAT
HUSSAIN
Signing time: 01-09-2026
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NEUTRAL CITATION NO. 2026:MPHC-JBP:66195
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Board. Learned Counsel for the Appellant/Housing Board may be

right in contending that the future use to which the land may be
put to cannot be seen for the purpose of determination of
compensation and therefore, the future use which the Housing
Board intended to put the land into, cannot indeed be looked into
for the purpose of adjudication of compensation.
11. However it is to be seen that whether on the date of
notification under Section 4, the land had a potential to be
developed into residential plots and for that purpose, the
Reference Court has taken into consideration various facts which
could not be demolished by the learned Counsel for the Housing
Board.
12. It has been brought on record before the Reference
Court that in locality in question, i.e, Padra Mohalla, there is
Transport Nagar and Shanti Vihar colony to the west of acquired
land, to the east of acquired land, there is Agriculture College
where various houses are already constructed. There are other
colonies in Padra Mohalla locality. It has further been brought on
record that the land is near to the Satna - Rewa Highway NH-7.
The land is near Rewa City, on a highway and near other
residential colonies and Agriculture college. Looking to all these
facts that have come on record before the Reference Court, this
Court does not find any error in the in that part of the award of the
Reference Court whereby the Reference Court has held that the
Signature Not Verified
Signed by: S HUSHMAT
HUSSAIN
Signing time: 01-09-2026
10:46:11

NEUTRAL CITATION NO. 2026:MPHC-JBP:66195
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land was having potential to be developed in a residential land on

the date of Section 4 notification. The layout is also on record as
Ex.P-4 before the Reference Court which indicates that there is
Agriculture College colony just to the North-East of the colony, it
is adjacent to National Highway No.7 i.e. Satna-Rewa Road.
Transport Nagar is in South-West, just across the NH-7, there is
Shanti Vihar Colony and Rewa Railway Station. In the near
vicinity, there are commercial establishments of Tata Engineering
Company, Timber Market, Shopping Complexes, Depot of M.P.
Road Transport Corporation, Anantpur Colony, etc.
13. Therefore, this Court does not find any error in that part
of the award whereby the land on the date of Section 4 notification
has been found to be having potential to be developed into
residential plots.
14. So far as the assertion made by learned counsel for the
Housing Board is concerned that the land was not diverted into
residential or commercial purpose, that cannot be made the basis
of assessment of compensation because what has to be seen is the
potential value of land on the date of acquisition and if all the
nearby lands had been developed into residential colonies and
commercial establishments, therefore on the date of Section 4
notification, the land had potential to be developed into residential
colony though for development of undiverted land into residential
colony, the deductions made towards development cost can be at
Signature Not Verified
Signed by: S HUSHMAT
HUSSAIN
Signing time: 01-09-2026
10:46:11

NEUTRAL CITATION NO. 2026:MPHC-JBP:66195
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higher value. Otherwise, it cannot be said that the land is not

having potential to be developed into residential colony.
15. Now, the modality of calculation to be made by the the
Reference Court is to be seen. The Reference Court has considered
the sale deeds Ex.P-5 to Ex.P-11 which are for different values of
small plots of land between 600 to 1600 square feet for value of
Rs.25/- to Rs.50/- per square feet. If the average of these sale
deeds is taken, then average sale price comes to Rs.38.92 per sq.
ft. or say Rs.39/- per square feet.
16. The Reference Court has reckoned the average price to
be Rs.35/- per square feet but when this Court itself calculated the
average of the sale deeds in question as mentioned in para-17 of
the impugned award, it comes out to Rs.38.92, or Rs. 39/- per
square feet.
17. The Reference Court has deducted 30% of the value
towards development cost and by deducting 30% from Rs.35/- per
square feet, it arrived at Rs.24.50/- per square feet.
18. In the case of Ravinder Kumar Goel v. State of
Haryana, (2024) 16 SCC 688, it has been held that there is no legal
impediment against considering sale exemplars for smaller parcels
of land subject to cuts or deductions if it is to be applied on larger
chunks of land so as to arrive at a more accurate approximation of
value of land.
19. Recently, in the case of New Okhla Industrial
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Signed by: S HUSHMAT
HUSSAIN
Signing time: 01-09-2026
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NEUTRAL CITATION NO. 2026:MPHC-JBP:66195
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Development Authority v. Harnand Singh, 2024 SCC OnLine SC

1691, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has considered in detail the
methodology for considering the guestimation method and to
arrive at approximate value of the land on the date of notification.
20. It has been held by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case
o f State of M.P. v. Kashiram, (2010) 14 SCC 506 that the
deduction for development charges can be anywhere between 20%
to 70% looking to the circumstances.
21. When applying the aforesaid legal position to the facts
of this case, this Court has already arrived at a conclusion that the
average sale price of the seven exemplar sale deeds is Rs.39/- per
square feet. Now, this Court has to arrive at a conclusion that
whether the deduction for development i.e, @ 30% has been
properly made by the Reference Court, or it is at lower or higher
side.
22. The lands in question are simply agricultural lands lying
fallow which were having potential to be developed into
residential plots and it is common knowledge that if an agricultural
land lying fallow is converted into residential plots then naturally,
though Rewa is a large Town being Divisional Headquarter, but
even in small towns, at least roads are to be carved out, even if
community centers, parks etc. are not carved out. Even for carving
out the roads, at least 40% of the land would be consumed and in
developing the land for payment of diversion fees and providing
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Signed by: S HUSHMAT
HUSSAIN
Signing time: 01-09-2026
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essential amenities like constructing even unmetalled roads,

providing water line, sewer line, electricity infrastructure, etc., at
least 20% of the land value would be consumed. Therefore, it was
a fit case where there should have been deduction of 60% of the
land value for larger plots and for larger chunks. Even for smaller
chunks, deduction should be atleast 50% of the land value because
in smaller chunks, the wastage of land in roads would be lesser as
compared to larger chunks.
23. This Court arrives at the cut-off figure of area at 0.404
hectare (or one Acre) as dividing line between larger chunks and
smaller chunks so as to infer that the wastage of lands in roads in
smaller chunks would be 30% and in larger chunks it would be
40%. After deducting further 20% of the land value for providing
facilities like construction of roads, construction of unmetalled
roads, water, sewage and electricity lines, the amount to be
deducted from smaller chunks would be 50% percent and larger
chunks it would be 60%.
24. In the present matters, in F.A.No.538/2014,
F.A.No.537/2014 and F.A.No.539/2014, the area of land is more
than one acre or 0.404 hectare each. However, in
F.A.No.540/2014, the area of acquired land is 0.371 hectare or
0.916 acre and therefore, it is less than one acre.
25. Therefore, in the considered opinion of this Court, for
the lands that are subject matter of F.A.No.537/2014,
Signature Not Verified
Signed by: S HUSHMAT
HUSSAIN
Signing time: 01-09-2026
10:46:11

NEUTRAL CITATION NO. 2026:MPHC-JBP:66195
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F.A.No.538/2014 and F.A.No.539/2014, the per square feet value

should be arrived at by deducting 60% for development and
therefore it would be Rs.15.6/- per square feet. In
F.A.No.540/2014, where the land area is less than one acre, the
deduction towards development cost would be 50% and therefore,
the value would be Rs.19.5 per square feet.
26. So far the assertion made by learned Counsel for the
Appellant that some of the exemplar sale deeds are for commercial
purpose, it is seen that as per the project layout, the land is having
various commercial establishments in the vicinity and therefore,
the land was having potential to be developed into commercial as
well as residential purpose and this Court has taken the average of
all the commercial and residential sale deeds which were placed
on record by the land losers.
27. Therefore in the above terms, F.A.No.537/2014,
F.A.No.538/2014, F.A.No.539/2014 and F.A.No.540/2014 are
party allowed by reducing the per square feet rate from Rs.24.50/-
per sq. ft. to Rs.15.6 per square feet in F.A.No.537/2014,
F.A.No.538/2014 & F.A.No.539/2014 and to Rs.19.5 per square
feet in F.A.No.540 of 2014.
28. In view of the aforesaid determination, F.A.No.1103 of
2015 seeking enhancement is dismissed.
29. Rest part of the impugned award passed by the
Reference Court in the matter of interest, solatium, etc. does not
Signature Not Verified
Signed by: S HUSHMAT
HUSSAIN
Signing time: 01-09-2026
10:46:11

NEUTRAL CITATION NO. 2026:MPHC-JBP:66195
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need any interference and the same are upheld.

30. In the above terms, these Appeals are disposed off.

3. In view of aforesaid, theses appeals are also disposed off in
similar terms and the aforesaid order will also apply mutatis mutandis in the
present appeals.

(VIVEK JAIN)
JUDGE
Hashmi

Signature Not Verified
Signed by: S HUSHMAT
HUSSAIN
Signing time: 01-09-2026
10:46:11