HC remits compensation matter to reference court

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 24

More than two decades after the process of acquiring land in Manesar tehsil of Gurgaon district was initiated for developing the Industrial Model Township (IMT), the Punjab and Haryana High Court has set aside the awards by the court below and remitted the matter to the “reference court”.

The directions came as Justice Rajesh Bindal of the High Court disposed of pleas filed by landowners, Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited and Maruti Suzuki India Limited. Landowners were seeking further enhancement in compensation for acquired land, while the HSIIDC and Maruti were asking for reduction.

The parties were represented by senior advocates ML Sarin, Shailendra Jain, Akshay Bhan and Pawan Kumar, among other lawyers.

Different amounts were assessed by the reference court and HC for different acquisitions. The manner in which the cases were decided created an anomalous situation. The cases where the acquisition was subsequent in time were decided earlier, and cases where the acquisition was earlier were decided later. Taking up the matter, Justice Bindal asserted perusal of sale deeds produced on record by landowners, Maruti Suzuki and HSIIDC showed “lot of variation in the prices”.

Justice Bindal added: “The landowners have placed on record few sale deeds and few allotment letters pertaining to land, which was already acquired and developed, whereas Maruti Suzuki and HSIIDC have produced various sale deeds pertaining to the revenue estates, the land of which was acquired.

“The land pertaining to all sale transactions has not been pointed out on any site plan produced on record. In the absence thereof, it will not be possible for this court to assess fair amount of compensation for the acquired land….

“Further, as Maruti Suzuki has been permitted to be impleaded as party for the first time, it needs to be given opportunity to present its case. Let that opportunity be before the reference court, as otherwise one remedy of appeal will be curtailed….”

Justice Bindal added, in his opinion, it would not be just and fair to permit only Maruti Suzuki to lead evidence since the matters were being remitted to the reference court. Rather, all parties were at liberty to produce relevant evidence for enabling the reference court to assess fair value of acquired land in accordance with law considering the evidence produced on record.

“The impugned awards passed by the court below are set aside…. The parties through their counsel are directed to appear before the District Judge, Gurgaon, on February 8, 2016.”