MIRZA NAUSHERWAN KHAN & ANR versus THE COLLECTOR (LAND ACQUISITION), HYDERABAD

KRISHNA IYER, J .-This appeal, by certificate, arises out of land acquisition proceedings under the Hyderabad Land Acquisition Act (Hyderabad Act IX of 1309 Fasli) (hereinafter called the Act, for short) which substantially resembles the provisions of the Central Land Acquisition Act.

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The Government of Andhra Pradesh acquired a large open area with some buildings thereon by Notification, .dated January 3, 1957 with a view to construct Income-tax and Central Excise Offices at Hyderabad. The contest before us is confined to the quantum of

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compensation and, although Shri vasudeva Pillai, counsel for the appellants, has l'ressed his points with presistence, we are unable .to disturb the High Court's award.

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The land, vast in extent, had a building with a plinth area of 3,300 sq. yds. The area in which the acquired plot is situate is perhaps an important one in the City. After getting expert valuation

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made of the buildings by the Central Public Works Department engineers, the Collector awarded a sum of Rs. 41,674/- for the build· ings. Rs. 1.440/- for the standing .trees and a sum of R~. 30,630/for a belt of land 50 ft. deep at Rs. 15/- per square yard and Rs. 99,435 /- for the remaining area of 13,258 sq. yds. The total figure together with statutory solatium granted by the Collector was Rs. 1.99.155.85. This figure fell far short of the ambitious claim of

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the appellant and. when the case came before the City Civil Court on ·a reference,. there was an enhancement of compensation. ·Although the learned Additional Chief Judge held that . the area was a little less than had been determined by the Collector. the market value of the building was increased nearlv four-fold on the basis of a multiple of 25 times the rent fetched. On the other items also some changes we're made and. consequentially, the total amount was raised to

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,Rs. 3.31.092/-. The appellant arrived in the Higb Court asking for more (and the State also appears to have appealed, but its appeal was dismissed and we are not therefore concerned with it).

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Some measure of good fortune attended the appeal since the High Court altered the multiple from 25 to 27 in fixing the compe.nsation for the building. Otherwise, it substantially affirmed the findings of

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the trial Court, except that to the advantage of the appellant it restored the area acquired. The net result was the appellant obtained a total sum of Rs. 3.52.326.65 as compensation.

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It is thus clear that from the Collector to the Civil Court and on to the Hie:h Court. there has been an escalation in the amount of compensation and. hooefullv. the owner has reached this Court with

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his appeal. under a certificate which he secured under Art. 133(1) (a) b~fore th,. recent amendment. We mention this because we are un- .able to d!~cern a~v .substantial que~tion of law of. general importance m counse1 s subm1ss1ons or the oomts outlined in the memorandum of appeal which merits the consideration of this Court. ·

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Meref y because the claim is large the judgment need not be loQg .and, although the appellant tried to ~pread the canvas wide, we .regard the points deserving of consideration as falling within narrow com· pass. The burden of the song ha~ been that Hyderabad has,. for his· torical reasons, become a . great city a~g · that the land acquired has precious potential value which has not entered the judicial computa· tion at the lesser levels: (By way of aside one ma.y say tha~ socio-. economic development of a City. may enhance the value of space without any the littlest contribution by its owner and it is, in onie sense, unfair that society should pay to an individual a higher price not because he has earned it. but because of other developmental factors. Of course, we are concerned with the Land Acquisition Act as it is and this thought therefore need not be pursued). Counsel has also urged that the land and the building taken tog~ther had a personality -0f its own and th'erefore a special value, missed by the co9rts below, should be ascribed and the methodology of breaking up the totality into buildings and lands separately and sub-dividing the land into two portions on tl1e principle of belting was all wrong. It was also urged before us that the multiple of 27 for purposes of capitalisation, adopt· ed by the High Court, was· inadequate and that the owner was entitled to capitalisation by multiplication 33! times. D

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We find that the High Court has carefully considered all available points, indeed stretching ,them in favour of t.he appellant, where that was warranted by the ·facts. The potential value of the land was quite within the ke~ of the Ju~ge who heard the appeal and weighed with the Court in the assessment made.· However, the High Court noted that no evidence whatever was placed on record in substantia- E tion of any bjg potential value based on- the unique features of the land. On the other hand, the totality of factors was duly considered by the High Court when it observed :

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"Haviitg regard to the physical features of the property, its situation in an important locality and the price paid for a small extent of level ground .acquired for the Telephone Exchange which is at a distance of about half a mile from the property acquired, we hold that the co111pensation award· ed by the Court below at Rs. 20/- per square yard for the 2042 square yards oonstituting the 50' wide belt and . at

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Rs. 10 / • per square yard for the rest is fair and reasonable." We see no error in this evaluation.

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It is true that the Court has adopted a higher value for a strip 50 feet wide adj-Oining the road, based on the principle of belting. There is no doubt that when we deal with value of an extensive plot -0f land in a Uty th.e strip that adjoins an important road will have a higher value than what is in the rear. for obvious reasons of potential user -0r commercial exploitation. While no general principle can be . laid down in these matters, local circrimstances guide the Courts. The H rulin~ in Mohinl Mohan v. Provinie ()f Bengal(l) and the principle, I.

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,_ A with its limitations, set out in Kunjukrishna v. State( are sufficient to bring out our point. Indeed, the objection to divide the plot for purposes of differential valuation has not been take!li at the proper level. . On the contrary, it has been adopted originally at the instance of the appellant himself, before the Collector and we are satisfied that such an approach has operated to his benefit and npt detriment.

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The Court has taken note of the well-established distinction between a~ the value of a tiny plot being no measure when a large area is acquired. The terrain, in this case, appears to have been unteven with difference in levels to the extent of 27 feet and boulders here · and there making buil.ding operations expensive in the . initial pre.-· . paration of the site. We conclude by saying that practically every relevant factor placed on record has received fair consideration before the High Court.

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The next question is whether the multiple adopted for capitalisation has been prejudicially low, Exhibit A-7, the notification pro duced by the appellant, itself shows that around the middle of 1957 the rate of interest al!Owed on Governiment Securities at the relevant time ranged between 3! and 4%. The Curt accepted 3!% as interest on giltedged securities instead. of 4 % , thus giving some advantage to the appellant and there ls no warrant for the contention that the interest on Government bonds was 3 % at the relevant time. The appellant apparently has sought to mis-read Ex.A-7. We are satisfied with the valuatfon of the rented portion of the house adopted by the High Court is correct.

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Shri Pillai argued in vain for an augmentation of the value on the potential user of the plot for a Cinema House. This story has been factually disbelieved by the _Courts below and we cannot reopen the matter. We must also remember that the Court below has been indulg~nt enough to adopt a multiple of 27 despite the fact that· the buildings acquired ate over 30 years old. Nor does it come with

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grace from the appellant to contend against the belting inethod since h~ himself had asked for its application before the Collector and _the tnal Court. . · ·

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We are thus satisfied that there is no law, no fact, which comes · to the resc~e of . the appellant and his appeal, virtually against coru· current findmgs of fact, therefore deserves to be and is hereby dismissed with costs. ' ' V.P.S.

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Appeal dismissed. A. I. R. P.C.

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