Summary
Landowners sought enhanced compensation for large tracts acquired for HUDA residential and commercial sectors at Safidon. The Court upheld differentiation by location through the belting system and declined to adopt the highest small-plot sale price mechanically. Assessing the evidence as a whole, it enhanced both categories’ per-acre rates and retained statutory benefits.
Issues
- Whether belting was justified for the acquired land.
- Whether the highest sale price for a small nearby plot controlled valuation of the large acquisition.
- What enhanced compensation was justified.
Held
- Belting was appropriate given the acquisition’s size, differing locations and road frontage. Land abutting the main road could command more than interior land; the precise belts and relative values depend on the facts. The claimants showed no illegality in the classification here. (¶¶ 32–36, 52–59)
- Comparable sales require scrutiny of proximity in time and location, bona fides and similar advantages. The highestRs4,500 per square yard price involved only60 and67 square yard plots, while the acquisition exceeded300acres. Without comparable large-area transactions, that price could not mechanically determine compensation. (¶¶ 37–50, 60–61)
- Considering location, surroundings, potential, purpose, development cost and available sales, the Court fixedRs45lakh per acre for the road-frontage category described in column2 of the Collector’s award andRs35lakh per acre for Nehri/Chahi land in column1. The rates applied to all appellants’ acquired land, with existing statutory compensation retained. (¶ 62–64)
Result
Appeals partly allowed: road-frontage/Gair-mumkin category enhanced fromRs33lakh toRs45lakh per acre, and Nehri/Chahi fromRs24.75lakh toRs35lakh per acre; statutory benefits preserved.