BALU MARTAND CHAUDHARI AND OTHERSversusTHE SPECIAL LAND ACQUISITION OFFICER SUB DIVISIONAL OFFICER JALGAON AND ANOTHER

2026:BHC-AUG:34512
                                                                 C-FAs1848&1849-19

                     IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                                BENCH AT AURANGABAD

                            912 FIRST APPEAL NO. 1848 OF 2019

             1.   Balu Martand Chaudhari, Died
                  Through L.Rs.
             1/A Yashwant Balu Chaudhari

             2.   Tushar Krushna Chaudhari

             3.   Chaya Krushna Chaudhari

             4.   Jitendra Bhagwat Chaudhari,

             5.   Manisha Bhagwat Chaudhari

             6.   Swati Bhagwat Chaudhari

             7.   Jaishree Bhagwat Chaudhari

             8.   Sanjay Tulshiram Chaudhari

             9.   Nitin Tulshiram Chaudhari

             10. Vijay Tulshiram Chaudhari

             11. Sumanbai Tulshiram Chaudhari              ...     Appellants

                  All R/o Yawal Tq. Yawal Dsit. Jalgaon

                  VERSUS

             1.   The Special Land Acquisition Officer,
                  Sub Divisional Officer, Jalgaon.

             2.   The Executive Engineer,                 ...      Respondents
                  Sub Divisional Officer, Jalgaon
                                              WITH
                              FIRST APPEAL NO. 1849 OF 2019


             1.   Jagannath Vithu Patil, Died
                  Through Appellans 2, 3 and 4
             2.   Dnyaneshwar Jayram Patil

             3.   Hari Jayram Patil


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3.    Pundlik Jayram Patil                           ...     Appellants

      All R/o Anjale Tq. Yawal Dsit. Jalgaon

      VERSUS

1.    The Special Land Acquisition Officer,
      Sub Divisional Officer, Jalgaon.

2.    The Executive Engineer,                        ...     Respondents
      Sub Divisional Officer, Jalgaon


Mr. Ajeet B. Kale Ajeet B., Advocate for the Appellants
Mrs. Bharti B. Gunjal, AGP for the Respondents-State


                       CORAM : NEERAJ P. DHOTE, J.
                         Dated : 6th August, 2026

PER COURT :-

1.       These are the First Appeals by the original Claimants arising

out of Land Acquisition Reference Nos. 457 of 2004 and 458 of 2004

which came to be decided by the learned Joint Civil Judge, Senior

Division, Jalgaon by different Judgments dated 06.04.2009 granting

enhanced compensation at the rate of Rs.4,00,000/- per Hectare for

the acquired lands. Since the evidence led by the Claimants in both the

References is common and common submissions are made, they are

decided by this common order. The parties are referred as per their

nomenclature before the learned Reference Court.


2.       The lands of the Claimants came to be acquired for the

purpose of extension of Gavthan at village Anjale Tq. Yawal District

Jalgaon. The land admeasuring 0.23 Gunthas from Gat No. 747 in L.

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A.R. No. 457 of 2004 and the land admeausring 0.52 Gunthas and 0.04

Gunthas from Gat        Nos. 747 in L.A.R. No. 458/2004 came to be

acquired for the said purpose. The Section 4 Notification under the

Land Acquisition Act was issued on 29.01.1998 and the Award came to

be declared on 02.07.2001. The Special Land Acquisition Officer ( the

S.L.A.O. for short) determined the compensation at the rate of

Rs.80,000/- per Hectare for the dry land. Being not satisfied with the

compensation awarded by the S.L.A.O., the Appellants preferred the

above Reference Applications for enhanced compensation. The

Claimants relied on the sale instances Exhibits 15 and 16 dated

03.06.1997 and 15.04.1997 from the same village, wherein the land

admeasuring 42 ½ Gunthas and 139.5 Square Meters were sold at the

rate of Rs.3,80,952/- per Hectare and Rs.150/- per Square meter,

respectively. The learned Reference Court, by appreciating the evidence

on record, enhanced the compensation at Rs.4,00,000/- per hectare.


3.      Heard the learned Advocate for the Claimants and the learned

AGP for the Respondents State, finally. With their assistance, perused

the papers on record.


4.      It is submitted by the learned Advocate for the Claimants that,

the sale instances relied upon by the Claimants were from the very

same village and they were prior to the Section 4 Notification. The

learned Reference Court, though observed that, the acquired lands


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were having Non-Agriculture (N.A.) potentiality, discarded the said sale

instances for the reason that, no application was filed by the Claimants

for converting the acqured land to N. A.         The observation in the

judgment of the learned Reference Court shows that, the Government

had auctioned certain lands situated in the same village in the year

2002, which indicates that, the prices of land in the said area were

increasing every year. As per the settled position in law, the highest

sale instance is required to be considered. He submitted that, the

Appeals be allowed and the compensation be enhanced on the basis of

the sale instances, particularly, the sale instance at Exh. 16.


5.       It is submitted by the learned AGP for the Respondents that,

the acquired land was not converted to the N. A. land. The observation

in the judgment passed by the learned Reference Court goes to show

that, the land was 6 kms. away from Bhusawal town and 12 kms. away

from Yawal town. She submitted that, since the Claimants had asked

for the enhancement at the rate of Rs.6 lacks per Hectare or Rs.15 per

square feet, which was on the higher side,        the   learned Reference

Court appropriately granted the enhancement and the Appeals be

dismissed.


6.           There is no dispute in respect of the extent of the land

acquired and the purpose for which it is acquired. The Claimants’ land

were acquired for the extension of Gavthan. The learned Reference


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Court observed that, perusal of the Award goes to show that, the

acquired land was suitable for extension of Gavthan and the said

village Anjale was at the distance of 6 kms. and 12 kms. form Bhusawal

and Yawal respectively. Merely because the Claimants had not made

the application to the concerned authority for converting the acquired

land to N.A. land will not be sufficient to deny the compensation as

established through the evidence on record.


7.       The Claimants relied on the sale instances from the same

village, which were prior to the Section 4 Notification date. Out of

the said two (2) sale instances, the sale instance below Exh. 16 was

eight (8) months prior to the Section 4 Notification.      The learned

Reference Court found the said sale instance as comparable one in

respect of the time and location. However, by observing that, the price

of the sale deed cannot be applied as it is, and plus minus factors are

required to be taken into consideration, the learned Reference Court

did not enhance the rate by considering the sale instances. There is no

contrary evidence by the State.      It is nobody’s case that, said sale

instances were not genuine. As compared to the area under the sale

instances, the acquired land is small in size.


8.       The learned reference Court, despite the clear evidence on

record in the nature of aforesaid sale instances, did not enhance the

compensation on the basis of the evidence on record. Considering the


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evidence on record and the observations by the learned Reference

Court in the judgments, the Claimants are entitled for the enhanced

rate of compensation as per the sale instances below Exh. 16, wherein,

the sale transaction was at the rate of Rs.150 per square meter i.e.

Rs.15 per square feet. The operative order of the judgment passed by

the learned Reference Court shows that, the interest is granted from

from the date of possession. The interest will have to be computed as

per the decision of the Full Bench of this Court in State of Maharashtra

Vs. Kailash Shiva Rangari, 2016 (3) Mh.L.J.457. Hence, the following

order:

                                 ORDER


 (1)       The First Appeals are partly allowed.

 (2)       The judgments and awards dated 06.04.2009 passed by
           learned Joint Civil Judge, Senior Division, Jalgaon in Land
           Acquisition Reference Nos. 457 of 2004 and 458 of 2004
           stand modified as under:-

            (a)   The Claimants shall be entitled for compensation at
                  the rate of Rs.15/- (Rupees Fifteen only) per Square
                  foot for the acquired land along-with statutory benefits.

            (b)   The interest shall be calculated from the date of Award
                  under Section 11 of the Land Acquisition Act.


(3)      The State and the Acquiring Body are expected to deposit the



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                 amount within a period of six months. Thereafter, the Claimants
                 shall be at liberty to withdraw the same in accordance with due
                 procedure.

           (4)   The Claimants shall pay the deficit Court fees.


           (5)   The pending Civil Applications, if any, stand disposed of.


           (6)   Record and Proceedings be sent back to the learned Reference

                 Court.




                                                            (NEERAJ P. DHOTE, J.)


JPChavan




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