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TMI Blog1989 (3) TMI 383X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a well and some trees. The whole of the acquired land including that of the appellant was within the limits of Bhopal Municipal Corporation. On 25.3.1966 Notification under Section 71 of the Act was issued vesting the land in the Trust. The Trust offered compensation at the rate of ₹ 950 per acre (@ 14 paise per sq. ft.) amounting to ₹ 11,997.00; for the well ₹ 3,108; and for the trees ₹ 815 and for compulsory acquisition 15% amounting to ₹ 2,400. The appellant made reference, No. 8 of 1970 to the Compensation Tribunal under Section 72(3) of the Act. The Tribunal awarded compensation at the rate of ₹ 6,000 per acre (Rs.0.28 Paise per sq. ft.) for the land, ₹ 5,000 for the building, ₹ 3,000 for the well and ₹ 815 for the trees. Thus the Tribunal by its award dated 25th November, 1972 awarded a total sum of ₹ 1,20,060 inclusive of interest as compensation to the appellant, as against his claim at the rate of ₹ 20,000 per acre for the land, ₹ 20,000 for the building, ₹ 5,000 for the well, ₹ 2,500 for the trees and ₹ 10,000 for loss of business and earnings, his total claim amounting to ₹ 1 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... with the award unless some erroneous principle has been invoked or some important piece of evidence has been overlooked or misapplied, as was held in Atmaram Bhagwant v. Collector of Nagpur, A.I.R. 1929 P.C. 92. In Dollar Company, Madras v. Collector of Madras, 1975 Suppl. S.C.R. 403 the Land Acquisition Officer awarded ₹ 800 per ground as compensation and the City Civil Court on reference awarded at the rate of ₹ 1,000 pet ground, and the High Court on appeal awarded ₹ 1800 per ground. The appellant himself purchased the suit land about 10 months before the Notification under Section 4 was made at a price of ₹ 410 per ground whereafter the appellant has spent a little money on filling up a pond. Dismissing the appeal it was observed that this Court interferes with the judgment of the High Court only if the High Court applies a principle wrongly or because some important point affecting valuation has been overlooked or misapplied. A Court of appeal interferes not when the judgment under attack is not right, but only when it is shown to be wrong. As there was no error in principle in the High Court judgment nor had any of the limited grounds on which that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... or to part with his land and the urgent necessity of the purchaser to buy it must alike be disregarded. Neither must be considered as acting under compulsion. The value of the land is not to be estimated at its value to the purchaser but this does not mean that the fact that some particular purchaser might desire the land more than others is to be disregarded. The wish of a particular purchaser, though not his compulsion, may always be taken into consideration for what it is worth. Any sentimental value for the vendor need not be taken into account. The vendor is to be treated as a vendor willing to sell at the market price. Section 23 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, enumerates the matters to be considered in determining compensation- The first to be taken into consideration is the market value of the land on the date of the publication of the Notification under Section 4(1). Market value is that of a willing vendor and a willing purchaser. A willing vendor would naturally take into consideration such factors as would contribute to the value of his land including its unearned increment. A willing purchaser would also consider more or less the same factors. There may be many pond ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion but laid out in its lucrative and advantageous way in which the owner can dispose it of. It is well established that the special, though natural, adaptability of the land for the purpose for which it is taken, is an important element to be taken into consideration in determining the market value of the land. In such a situation the land might have already been valued at more than its value as agricultural land, if it had any other capabilities. However, only reasonable and fair capabilities but not far-fetched and hypothetical capabilities are to be taken into consideration. In sum, in estimating the market value of the land all of the capabilities of the land, and all its legitimate purposes to which it may be applied or for which it may be adapted are to be considered and not merely the condition it is in and the use to which it is at the time applied by the owner. The proper principle is to ascertain the market value of the land taking into consideration the special value which ought to be attached to the special advantage possessed by the land; namely, its proximity to developed urbanised areas. The value of the potentiality has to be determined on such materials as are ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n of his land to the Sub-Divisional Officer. In January 1961 application was also made to the Town Planning Authority for sanction of the lay-out plan but in the meantime the land was notified for acquisition under the Land Acquisition Act sometimes in 1962 and Phool Chand Gupta tried to extricate his land from acquisition which, however, did not materialise and, as already noted, on 30.4.65 the instant notification to ac- quire under Section 68 of the Act was issued. Rejecting the contention that the agreements were spurious, the High Court observed that the very fact that applications were made for diversion and for sanction of lay-out plan went to show that the owner was interested in the development in the land and in selling it after dividing it into plots. Thus, the High Court, rightly took into consideration the above Exts, which pertained to a part of the acquired land of 152 acres. The High Court also considered the sale deeds Exts. D-1 to D-6 which pertained to small plots of lands out of land in reference No. 1 of 1970. Those sale deeds were registered in 1966-67, but the agreements to sale were entered into in 1959-62. The respective purchasers and the vendors were exam ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of Swatantra Kumar Ref. No. 1/70. This tarred road was constructed by the Trust after acquisition of the lands. It goes on all sides of village Jamalpura, which is surrounded on all sides by the lands of Ref. No. 1/70. A part of land of Ref. No. 1/70 was developed after acquisition, and the tarred road reaches the developed plots. We have to note that such detail evidence was not there before the Tribunal and no benefit of development pursuant to and after the acquisition can be taken into consideration. Even so, from the map and juxtaposition we have no doubt that the acquired land had potentialities which deserved to be counted. In U.P. Government v. H.S. Gupta, A.I.R. 1957 S.C. 202 where in computing compensation for acquisition of an estate outside the Municipal area the High Court had given valid and weighty reasons for adopting the principle that the valuation should be on plot-wise though there was certain advantages in computing the value at the block rate where vast area of land was acquired, this Court held that in the circumstances of that case the proper mode of valuation was plot rate basis. In the instant case the application of the principle that if the land has ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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