Land Acquisition | Sale Statement Cannot Be Relied Upon For Compensation Without Examining Vendors Or Vendees: Patna High Court Reiterates

The Patna High Court has made it clear that while determining compensation for land acquisition, mere statement of exemplar sale is not sufficient without examining the vendors or vendees involved.

Justice Nawneet Kumar, presiding over the case, observed, “It is an admitted fact that the compensation of the acquired land was assessed on the basis of the sale statement (Ext.C) of another village Dharmangtpur. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in para-6 of Collector, Raigarh (supra) has been pleased to hold specifically that the sale statement, without examining the vendors or vendees, cannot be relied upon. Neither the vendor nor the vendee of the sale deed was examined by the State.”

The case concerned the acquisition of five acres of land belonging to the appellant under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The appellant filed an objection under Section 5A, which was rejected, and the declaration under Section 6 was issued for a public purpose. The appellant suggested alternative land through a second objection petition, but both applications were rejected by the Additional Collector.

The Counsel for the Appellant argued that the compensation awarded by the State Government was inadequate. She contended that the authorities had based the compensation calculation on the sale statement of a different village, without examining the vendor or vendee. She claimed this approach was improper and that the learned court below erred in relying on the sale statement for determining the compensation for the land in question.

The Counsel for the Respondents, however, asserted that the court had not committed any illegality in calculating the compensation based on the sale statement. He explained that the sale statement referred to village Dharmangtpur, which is adjacent to village Mohammadpur Gokul. He argued that the land in both villages was of the same nature. Since no sale deed for Mohammadpur Gokul had been available within four years prior to the acquisition, the sale statement from the neighboring village Dharmangtpur was presented as evidence, and the compensation was fairly calculated based on this.

The Court held that the trial court erred in calculating compensation based on the sale statement and directed that quantum of compensation be calculated on the basis of an exemplar sale deed from the same village.

Case Title: Daya Shankar Prasad Thakur vs The State Of Bihar

LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Pat) 100

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