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Civil Petition No. 181‑P of 1985, decided on 19th October,1985.

(Against the judgment and order, dated 28‑5‑1985 of the Peshawar High Court, Circuit Bench, Abbottabad in R.F.A. No. 21 of 1984).

‑‑‑Art. 185(3)‑‑Land Acquisition Act (I of 1894), S. 54‑‑Acquisition of land‑‑Enhancement of compensation according to market value‑‑Courts below in determining market value of land in dispute examining all aspects of evidence and drawing a conclusion of facts which was fully borne out from record and did not merit examination‑‑Leave refused.

M. Nazirullah Khan, Advocate Supreme Court instructed by Nur Ahmad Khan, Advocate‑on‑Record for Petitioner.

S. Safdar Hussain, Advocate‑on‑Record for Respondents.

Date of hearing: 19th October, 1985.

‑Government of Pakistan seeks leave to appeal against the judgment of the Peshawar High Court, dated 28th of May, 1985 whereby its Regular First Appeal filed under section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) was dismissed.

The land measuring 1 Kanal 7 Marlas belonging to the respondent No. 1 was acquired by the petitioner by a notification under section 4 of the Act, dated 14‑6‑1980. By a corrigendum, also a notification under section 4 of the Act, dated 29‑3‑1982 another land measuring 4 Kanals 1 Marla belonging to the respondent was also sought to be acquired. The Collector Land Acquisition awarded a compensation of Rs.24,422.40 per Kanal. The respondent No. 1 filed a reference under section 18 of the Act which was heard and disposed of by the Senior Civil Judge, Abbottabad, exercising the powers of District Judge under the Act. The compensation was enhanced to Rs.1,00,000 per Kanal. The petitioner felt aggrieved by such an enhancement of the compensation and filed a Regular First Appeal which was dismissed.

The learned counsel for the petitioner contended that the land was admittedly 'Maira' and the compensation had rightly been adjudged by the Collector keeping in view its quality and location. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner, the Senior Civil Judge committed a legal error in treating the land as a building site and in determining its value as such.

The Collector, Land Acquisition was, it appears, of the view that the land in dispute was a potential building site as all round buildings, commercial and residential, had been constructed but still proceeded not to offer to the respondent the comparable price of a building site. The reason given for this abnormal course was recorded as hereunder:‑

"It is true that small pieces lands for construction purposes in the locality are being sold at excessive rates but the same rate cannot be made applicable to the above waste area being acquired for Defence purposes in a compact block nor the rates of such small stretches sold for construction purposes can be taken into consideration for the reason that the area being acquired comprises of different soils irrespective of the situation of a particular Khasra No."

The learned Senior Civil Judge appointed Mr. Saleh Muhammad, an Advocate, a local, Commissioner requiring him to assess the market value of the disputed land by reference to the date of notification under section 4 of the Act. He submitted a report determining its price at the rate of Rs.1,20,000 per Kanal. The parties produced evidence before the Senior Civil Judge who on a consideration of the same adjudged Rs.1,00,000 per Kanal to be the market value of the land and awarded it so.

The learned Judge in the High Court re‑examined the evidence and the other material produced by the parties and upheld the conclusion with regard to the value of the land.

Apart from the fact that the Land Acquisition Collector had given no cogent reason for not treating it as a building site, we find that the only witness produced by the petitioner before the Senior Civil Judge made the following statement‑‑

"I have not purchased the suit land as such I cannot say as to what is the approximate price of the suit land. I cannot say whether the sale price prevailing in this area of Jinnahabad Colony or Habibullah Colony 1 to 2 lakhs of Rupees per Kanal. I am resident of Tehsil Swabi. If Maira is purchased in the Swabi the property is Rs.15,000 per Kanal, if the property is purchased for construction purposes then the land is generally sold to Rs.l Lakh per Kanal."

The average price as worked out by Bin Yamin P.W. 1, Patwari Halqa Urban area, Abbottabad, also is in the neighbourhood of what was determined by the local Commissioner to be the market value of the land. Besides, it appears that the land in dispute happens to be a corner plot which is considered to be more valuable.

We find that the two Courts have in determining the market value of the land in dispute examined all aspects of the evidence and have drawn a conclusion on facts which is fully borne out from the record and does not merit further examination. Hence leave to appeal is refused.

M. Y. H. Leave refused.

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