Gujarat High Court
Prakashbhai Thakorbhai Patel vs Special Land Acquisition Officer on 4 August, 2025
Author: Sangeeta K. Vishen
Bench: Sangeeta K. Vishen
NEUTRAL CITATION
C/FA/1343/2024 JUDGMENT DATED: 04/08/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/FIRST APPEAL NO. 1343 of 2024
FOR APPROVAL AND SIGNATURE:
HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE SANGEETA K. VISHEN
and
HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE MOOL CHAND TYAGI
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Approved for Reporting Yes No
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PRAKASHBHAI THAKORBHAI PATEL
Versus
SPECIAL LAND ACQUISITION OFFICER
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Appearance:
MR TEJAS P SATTA(3149) for the Appellant(s) No. 1
MS FORAM TRIVEDI, AGP for the Defendant(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE SANGEETA K. VISHEN
and
HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE MOOL CHAND TYAGI
Date : 04/08/2025
ORAL JUDGMENT
(PER : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE MOOL CHAND TYAGI)
1. The present appeal is preferred against the impugned judgment dated 24.01.2015 and decree dated 02.02.2024 passed by the learned 12th Additional Senior Civil Judge, Surat in L.A.R. No.1 of 2011, whereby the land reference was rejected.
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2. With the consent of learned advocates for the respective parties, the present appeal is taken up for final disposal at the stage of admission.
3. The brief facts leading to filing of present appeal are that the appellant is the original claimant and respondent is the original opponent in Land Acquisition Reference No.1 of 2011. The present appellant was owner of the land i.e. Survey No.184 to 187 situated at Moje:Althan, Dist:Surat. The respondent authority acquired 10522 Sq.Mtrs. of land of the appellant for the public purpose of Pumping Station of Surat Mahanagar Palika.
4. The notification under Section 4 came to be published on 27.12.2001. The respondent declared the award and awarded the compensation at the rate of Rs.78/- per sq.mtr. for acquired land. The compensation offered to the appellant was very meager, and therefore, the appellant had filed an application being L.A.R. No. 1 of 2011 under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 for enhancement of the compensation awarded by the Special Land Acquisition Officer, vide award dated 17.06.2003 in the Land Acquisition Case (LAQ) No.4-CR-2-2001/2002 before the learned Reference Court. The said reference came to be rejected by the learned Reference Court vide judgment dated 24.01.2018 and decree dated 02.02.2024.
5. Being aggrieved of and dissatisfied with the impugned judgment dated 24.01.2018 and decree dated 02.02.2024 Page 2 of 7 Uploaded by GIRISH K PARMAR(HC00954) on Tue Aug 05 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 05 22:33:52 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/1343/2024 JUDGMENT DATED: 04/08/2025 undefined passed by the learned Reference Court in LAR No. 1 of 2021, the appellant herein has filed present appeal.
6. Heard learned advocates for the parties. Mr.Tejas Satta, learned advocate appearing on behalf of the appellant vehemently submitted that the land reference came to be rejected owing to the reason that the appellant could not produce any oral or documentary evidence on record. It is further submitted that the appellant could not produce the evidence, as no notice was ever received by the appellant, as he was not residing on the given address. Therefore, notice of reference was served upon Vinodkumar Madhavbhai Lavari and Alpaben V. Lavari. They had never intimated to the appellant regarding the alleged service of notices. Therefore, the appellant remained unserved in the reference and he could not produce the evidence on record.
7. Mr.Tejas Satta, learned advocate for the appellant, has placed reliance on the judgment of this High Court passed in First Appeal No.4174 of 2022 & allied matters dated 19.10.2022, First Appeal No.4699 of 2019 dated 03.10.2019, First Appeal No.4435 of 2022 dated 11.01.2023 and First Appeal No.862 of 2022 and allied matters dated 29.06.2022, wherein the this High Court has remanded the matters back to the learned Reference Court with the direction to decide the land reference afresh. It is further submitted that the appellant shall not claim any interest for the period from the date of the impugned judgment till the date of decision of this appeal.
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8. It is submitted that in view of the aforesaid decisions, the present appeal deserves to be allowed and the matter be remanded back with the direction to decide the reference as expeditiously as possible.
9. On the other hand, Ms. Foram Trivedi, learned Assistant Government Pleader, submitted that there is no infirmity in the impugned judgment and decree. The learned Trial Court had served with the notice of the reference to the present appellant. Learned AGP has drawn the attention of the Court to paragraph No.4 of the impugned judgment, wherein the notices have been issued to the appellant and the same have been served upon Vinodkumar Madhabhai Lavari and Alpaben V. Lavari. She further submitted that since the notices of the reference were duly served, there is no infirmity in the impugned award. Hence, the present appeal is liable to be dismissed.
10. We have heard the learned advocates appearing for the parties and perused the material available on record. A perusal of the record reveals that the land comprising Block Nos. 184, 185, 186, and 187, admeasuring 10,522 square metres, situated at Village Althan, District Surat, is designated for the public purpose of a pumping station of the Surat Mahanagar Palika. The notification under Section 4 was published on 27.12.2001 and the compensation was awarded at the rate of Rs.78/- per Sq.Mtr. The appellant had filed an application under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 for the enhancement of compensation awarded by the Special Land Page 4 of 7 Uploaded by GIRISH K PARMAR(HC00954) on Tue Aug 05 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 05 22:33:52 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/1343/2024 JUDGMENT DATED: 04/08/2025 undefined Acquisition Officer, vide award dated 17.06.2003 in Land Acquisition Case (LAQ) No. 4-CR-2-2001/2002 before the learned Reference Court. The said application was registered as LAR No.1 of 2011, which came to be rejected by the judgment dated 24.01.2018 and decree dated 02.02.2004.
11. Having gone through the impugned judgment, it is apparent that the Land Reference Case was rejected for the reason that the appellant could not produce the evidence. It is the say of the appellant that the appellant had not received any notice from the Reference Court. It is apparent on record from paragraph No.4 of the impugned judgment that the said notices were not served upon the appellant, but the same were received by Vinod Madhabhai Lavari and Alpaben V. Lavari. In the similar facts and circumstances, the High Court in First Appeal No.4174 of 2022 & allied matters, First Appeal No.4699 of 2019, First Appeal No.4435 of 2022 and First Appeal No.862 of 2022 and allied matters, remanded the matters back for afresh consideration. The High Court in First Appeal No.4174 of 2022 has observed as under:-
"5. The appellant has placed reliance on the order dated 29.06.2022 passed by the Coordinate Bench of this Court in First Appeal No.862 of 2022 and allied matters, on the similar issue, whereby the reference Court has rejected the reference application on the ground that the appellants-claimants did not produce any evidence despite giving ample opportunities to them. The Coordinate Bench of this Court has observed thus:
"6. In view of above, this Court is of the opinion that in the land reference cases, it is the duty of the learned reference Court to go into the issue of awarding compensation and to assess the same for its adequacy in the background that the claimants have lost possession of their land. In the present case, no such exercise has been undertaken by the learned reference Court. In the premise, the impugned judgment Page 5 of 7 Uploaded by GIRISH K PARMAR(HC00954) on Tue Aug 05 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 05 22:33:52 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/1343/2024 JUDGMENT DATED: 04/08/2025 undefined and orders are hereby set aside and the matters are remanded back to the learned reference Court for determining the entitlement of the land owners to just, reasonable and adequate compensation, which can be determined only after examining the evidence adduced by the parties. In the interest of justice, the present appellants deserve an opportunity to produce additional evidence in respect of their entitlement to adequate compensation.
6.1 Accordingly, all the First Appeals are hereby allowed. The impugned common judgment and order is hereby quashed and set aside and the matter is remanded to the learned reference Court for fresh consideration in accordance with law with a liberty in favour of the parties to adduce oral as well as documentary evidence in support of their case.
6.2 The parties are directed to adduce their evidence within 6 weeks from the date of first appearance before the learned reference Court. The reference Court is also directed to decide the reference cases as expeditiously as possible and not later than 31.12.2022.
6.3 It is also seen from the record that the learned reference Court had granted number of opportunities to the appellants with respect to production of evidence, however, they remained negligent. Therefore, this Court is of the opinion that if any enhancement is made by the learned reference Court in the remand proceedings, the appellants shall not be entitled to any interest from the date of impugned judgment till today, i.e. from 17.3.2018 to 29.6.2022.
6.4 The parties are directed to cooperate with the learned reference Court in early disposal of the reference cases. Present First Appeals are allowed for the aforesaid reasons and accordingly stand disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs."
12. In view of the aforesaid, the present appeal deserves to be allowed with directions that the parties shall adduce their respective evidences within a period of three months from the date of first appearance before the reference Court. The reference Court is also directed to decide the reference cases as expeditiously as possible and not later than 31.12.2025. It is also directed that the appellant-claimant shall not be entitled for any interest from the date of the impugned judgment i.e. Page 6 of 7 Uploaded by GIRISH K PARMAR(HC00954) on Tue Aug 05 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 05 22:33:52 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/FA/1343/2024 JUDGMENT DATED: 04/08/2025 undefined 24.01.2018 till today i.e. 28.07.2025. The parties are directed to cooperate with the reference Court for early disposal of the reference case.
13. For the aforesaid reasons, the appeal stands allowed. No order as to costs.
(SANGEETA K. VISHEN,J) (MOOL CHAND TYAGI, J) GIRISH Page 7 of 7 Uploaded by GIRISH K PARMAR(HC00954) on Tue Aug 05 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 05 22:33:52 IST 2025