Tripura High Court

The Dy. Chief Engineer (Const. ... vs Shri Haradhan Chandra Dey on 22 March, 2021

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                      HIGH COURT OF TRIPURA
                            AGARTALA
                         LA APP 109 OF 2019

The Dy. Chief Engineer (Const. No.1), N.F. Railway,
Office at South Badharghat, Agartala, Post Office-A.D.Nagar,
PIN-799003, Police Station-A.D.Nagar, District-West Tripura.

                                                        .... Appellant.
                                  Vrs.

1. Shri Haradhan Chandra Dey,
S/o Shri Chitta Ranjan Dey, resident of
South Chandrapur, Udaipur, Police Station-Radhakishorepur,
Post office Radhakishorepur, PIN-799120,
District-Gomati, Tripura.

2. The Land Acquisition Collector,
Gomati District, Tripura.
                                                       .... Respondents.

Present:

For the appellant(s) : Ms. Asmita Banik, Advocate.

    For the respondents     : None.


    Argument heard &        : 22.03.2021.
    Judgment delivered on

    Whether fit for
    reporting               : No


             HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE ARINDAM LODH
                       Judgment & Order(Oral)

The present land acquisition appeal has been filed by the

Deputy Chief Engineer (Construction), NF Railway challenging the

judgment and award dated 25.04.2018 passed by learned Land Acquisition

Judge, Gomati District, Udaipur in Misc.(LA) 36 of 2016 awarding

compensation for the acquired land @ Rs.11,25,000/- per kani. The land in

question was acquired vide notification dated 26.10.2010 under Section 4

of the LA Act and declaration dated 29.11.2010 under Section 6 of the LA

Act. The acquired land was 'Nal' class of land measuring 0.23 acres.

2, Being aggrieved of the assessment of valuation of the acquired

land, the land owner, the claimant-respondent No.1, herein, sought for

reference under Section 18 of the LA Act. During proceeding before the

court of learned LA Judge, the referring claimant filed his statement of

claim. The appellant as well as the LA Collector also filed their respective

counter statement denying the facts as alleged by the referring claimant.

After exchange of pleadings, the learned LA Judge framed issues,

evidences were recorded. At the closure of recording evidence, learned LA

Judge having heard the learned counsels of the parties and on perusal of the

exemplar sale deeds and other documents came to a finding that the

referring claimant-respondent No.1 was entitled to pay compensation @

Rs.11,25,000/- per kani and accordingly, the LA Collector was directed to

pay the said compensation to the land owner, the respondent No.1 herein.

3. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the said determination

of valuation of the acquired land, the appellant, the NF Railway

(Construction) has preferred the instant appeal.

4. Ms. A. Banik, learned counsel appearing for the appellant

submits that the sale deeds as considered by the learned LA Judge are not

relevant in any manner whatsoever in deciding the market price of the

acquired land. According to Ms. Banik, learned counsel, the exemplar sale

deeds [Exbt.1(a), sale deed No.1-128/2010 and Exbt. 1(b) sale deed

No.258/2010] comprises small pieces of land and classes of land are

classified as 'Nal', and 'Chara' but the land in question of the instant

appeal is a 'Nal' Class of land. Ms. Banik, learned counsel submits that the

Exbt.1(a), sale deed No.1-128/2010 has been executed between two full

blooded brothers and according to her, this sale exemplar is a collusive one.

More so, the appellant required to spend substantial amount for

development of 'Nal' class of land which is much higher than what is

required for developing the 'Viti'/'Tilla' and 'Bastu' classes of land. Ms.

Banik, learned counsel further submits that the acquired land was of no use

at the time of acquisition and it had no importance or potentiality to fetch

the higher market price as assessed by the learned LA Judge @

Rs.11,25,000/- per kani.

5. None appears for the LA Collector at the time of hearing. The

claimant-respondent, the land owner, did not appear despite receipt of

notice served upon him.

6. I have perused the judgment of the learned LA Judge and

considered the submission of learned counsel for the appellant. There is no

doubt that to determine the market price of a land acquired by the

Government, the highest exemplar deed has to be taken into consideration.

However, it is equally settled that the land of such exemplar deed must be

of the same nature and character which, the learned LA Judge has failed to

consider. Moreover, the small piece of land should not always be

considered to determine the market price of a larger piece of land. In the

instant case, the LA Collector acquired vast quantity of land for the purpose

of construction of railway line for the interest of the people of the State.

The requiring department, the appellant herein, had to incur huge expenses

to develop different classes of land for laying the railway tracks. On careful

scrutiny of the sale deeds as brought on record by the referring claimant,

respondent No.1, it transpires that Exbt.1(a) was executed on 18.01.2010

wherein the valuation of 0.04 acres of 'Nal' class of land under South

Chandrapur Mouja was fixed at Rs.25,00,000/- per kani and Exbt.1(b)

wherein the 'Chara' class of land has been fixed at Rs.20,00.000/- per kani.

7. Thus, it is apparent that all the sale deeds that have been relied

upon by the respondent No.1, the referring claimant, were classified as

'Nal' and 'Chara' class of land.

8. Thereafter, I have perused the evidence of the claimant

respondent No.1. Nowhere in his examination-in-chief the claimant

respondent has stated that his land is situated in close proximity of the

exemplar deeds which he has brought on record. I reiterate that the

acquired land is absolutely a 'Nal' class of land. More so, the claimant

respondent has produced a map [Exbt.2(a)] but from this map it is not clear

as to how the acquired land was similar to those of the lands under

Exbt.1(a) and Exbt. 1(b), and the lands of Exbt. 1(a) and Exbt. 1(b) are not

nearer to the acquired land. The LA Collector while determining the

valuation of the acquired land had determined the market price @

Rs.3,00,000/- per kani on the basis of valuation chart prepared by the

Government and other sale deeds. The LA Collector in their counter

statement has stated, which would be revealed from Para 5 of the judgment,

that "during hearing before him land owners claimed the value of the land

@ Rs.20,00,000/- to Rs.50,00,000/- per kani but they could not produce

any supporting document in this regard." The learned LA Judge has relied

upon the lands of sale deeds i.e. 1-128/2010 & 258/2010 wherein the lands

were transacted @ Rs.25,00,000/- and Rs. 20,00,000/- per kani. Learned

LA Judge, consequently, on average fixed the market price of the acquired

land @ Rs.22,50,000/- per kani. The classes of lands under the exemplar

deeds are different to each other- one is 'Nal' class of land and the other is

'Chara' class of land. Here the acquired land is 'Nal' class of land. The

lands under the said two sale deeds comprise small pieces of land whereas

the acquired land consists of larger area than that of the lands of the said

two sale instances. Further, as I said earlier, to develop 'Nal' class of land

the requiring department has to incur more expenses and for that, deduction

has to be made. The learned LA Judge has assessed the market price at Para

14 of the judgment in the following manner:-

"14. For the reasons as stated above and considering the ratio of the judgments mentioned above, I am of the opinion that it will be just and proper if a deduction of 50% (Fifty Per cent) is made from the average exemplar sale price which comes down as follows:-