Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 7: High Court has reverted back the enhanced award of compensation in lieu of land acquisition granted by the trial court to the land owners and upheld the actual compensation award of collector land acquisition with interest.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd challenged an enhanced award passed by the Principal District Judge Pulwama whereby market value of the acquired land was fixed as Rs 5 lakhs per kanal against Rs 2 lakhs as awarded by the collector.
The Corporation has challenged the impugned judgment of trial court on the grounds that the evidence led by the parties has not been properly appreciated by the trial Court as the witnesses produced by the land owners before it had no personal knowledge about the market value of the land in question and no documentary evidence was produced by the land owners before the trial Court.
“The instant appeal is partly allowed and the impugned judgment passed by the trial Court is modified to the extent that the land owners shall be entitled to compensation Rs. 3 lakhs per kanal instead of Rs. 5 lakhs per kanal as has been awarded by the trial Court”, Justice Sanjay Dhar concluded.
Court, however, has directed that the land owners shall be entitled to jabirana @ 15 percent and interest @ 6 percent on the enhanced amount from the date of issuance of notification under Section 4 of the Act till the actual payment of the enhanced compensation.
The Corporation acquired the land measuring 213 kanals situated in estate Kadlabal and Namblabal, Pampore for the purpose of setting up of LPG bottling plant. Court on assessment of enhanced compensation by the trial court said it has ignored the very important aspect of the case and without being alive to the fact that the land owners have not been able to produce any cogent and convincing evidence to show that the land in question bears a market value of Rs 5 lakhs per kanals and not what has been awarded by the Collector, passed the impugned judgment.
“In fact, the land owners while responding to notices under Section 4 of the Act claimed compensation only @ Rs. 3 lakhs per kanal, but the trial Court ignored this admitted position of land owners and proceeded to award the compensation @ Rs. 5 lakhs per kanal, which is contrary to even the claim of the land owners”, Court said.
The court, however, said that one of the factors that seems to have persuaded the trial Court to enhance the compensation for the acquired land is its future potential by referring to its proximity to the National Highway and its potential to grow saffron but the Collector while assessing the compensation has taken all these factors into account and it is clearly indicated in the award that the land in question is located adjacent to the National Highway and that some part of the land is zaffrani in nature.
Court said, the market value of the land has to be assessed keeping in mind the factors mentioned in Section 23 of the Act. Though, a guess work is permissible but the same is allowed only to a limited extent. The market value of the land has to be determined after taking into consideration the existing use of the land, its location, its advantages and disadvantages.
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