DADU YOGENDRENATH SINGH & ORS. versus THE COLLECTOR, SEONI

Citation: [1977] 2 S.C.R. 757 · Decided: 25-01-1977 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: HANS RAJ KHANNA · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Judgment (excerpt)

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DADO YOGENDRENATH SINGH & ORS. 
v. 
THE COLLECTOR, SEONI 
January 25, 19.77 
[H. R. KHANNA, R. S. SARKARIA AND JASWANT SINGH, JJ.] 
The Land Acquisiton Act, 1894, S. 23(1)--Considerations for determination 
of compensation, scope of. 
Responding to a notice under s. !I of the Land Acquisiton Act, 1894, the 
appellants filed a claim for Rs. 1500/- per acre at which .rate the adjoining lands 
were sold. 
The Collector awarded compensation at the rate of Rs. 450/- per 
acre. 
At the instance of the appellants under s. 18 of the Act, the matter was 
referred to the District Judge who enhanc_ed the compensation to Rs. 11,000/-
per acre. 
An appeal by the Collector was allowed by the High Court on the 
ground that the District Judge had acted -contrary to the mandate contained in 
~. 25(1) of the Act, by awarding compensation in excess of tl)e amount claimed. 
The appellants contended that their land had building potentiality and its value 
was substantially more than Rs. 500 /- per acre, which had b~en paid by them 
to the Government as diversion charges for permission to use 'the adjoining land 
for building houses. 
Allowing the appeal by certificate, the Court, 
HELD : The circumstance that ·the appellants had voluntarily paid Rs. 500/-
per acre as diversion charges, for laying out __ the adjQinjp.g land into_ plots as 
building sites, taken in ,conjunction with tne oflier facts, namely, that the land 
in question is within the municipal limits and is located just .on the edge of an 
inhabited locality of the town, 'having other buildings in the immediate vicinity, 
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show that its potential value as building sites is much more than the rate of 
RB. 450/- per acre, awarded by the Collector and t)le J:Iigh Court [760 C-D, 761 
A-Bl 
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 2128 of 1969. 
From the Judment and Order dated 4th May, 
1968 
of 
the 
Madhya Pradesh ;High Court .in First App~al No. 88/67. 
M. S. Gupta for the Appellants. 
Ram Panjwanii and H. S. Parihar for Respondent. 
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 
SARKARIA, J. 
This appeal on certificate is directed 
against 
a 
judgment, dated May 4, 1968, of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh. 
It arises out of these facts : 
The appellants were owners of 7.35 acres of land being a part of 
Khasra No. 47 /1 ·.in the area of village Manglipeth District Seoni, 
Madhya Pradesh. 
On November 4, 1963, a notification under s. 4 
read·with Sub-s. (1) of s. 17 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (to 
be hereinafter referred to as the Act) was published in the Govern-
ment Gazette stating that this land was needed by the State Govern-
ment for implementation of Seoni Water Supply Scheme. The declara-
tion under s. 6 of the Act was published on December 18, 1963, and 
notices· under s. 9 of the Act were issued by the Collector on Decem-
ber :28, 1963. 
In response to that notice, the appellants filed a claim 
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758 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[1977] 2 S.C.R. 
that they were willing to accept compensation in respect of this land 
at the rate of Rs. 1500 /- per acre, "as the lands adjoining this land 
and situated in a lesser advantageous position are sold at this rate". 
The Collector made his award on August 17, 1964, 
whereby he 
awarded compensation for this land at the rate of Rs. 450/- per acre. 
The total amount awarded for this piece of land after adding solatium 
at the rate of 15%, was Rs. 2,904/-. He also awarded interest at 
the rate ot 4% from September 19, 1964, on which date, the Collec-
tor had taken over possession of the land. 
D1ssafo,fied with the Collector's award, the appellants made 
an 
applic3tion under s. 18 of the Act for reference to the District Court 
for enhancement of the compensation. 
The Collector accordingly 
made a reference. 
The Additional District Judge, Seoni, who heard 
the reference, enhanced the compenstion to Rs. 11,000/- per acre. 
In this way, after adding solatium, he awarded to the 
appellants, 
herein, a total amount of Rs. 80,850/- together with interest at the 
rate of 6%. 
Against that judgment, dated May 2, 1967, of 
the Additional 
Dist.net Judge, an appeal was preferred by the Collector, to the High 
Court. 
The High Court accepted the appeal, set aside the award of 
the Additional District Judge and restored that of the Collector. The 
High Court however, granted a certificate under Art 133 of the Cons-
titution. 
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The first contention of Shri M.

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