TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (3) TMI 1538
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....t Vadodara, Gujarat was acquired by the Government of Gujarat for a public purpose and for the benefit of Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation ['GIDC' for short]. 3. The notification proposing to acquire the aforesaid land under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act [Hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'] was published on 24.07.1989 which was followed by the final Declaration under Section 6 of the Act dated 18.07.1990 to acquire the said land. The Special Land Acquisition Officer [Hereinafter referred to as the 'SLAO'] in exercise of powers under Section 11 of the Act vide award dated 25.02.1992 offered compensation @ Rs.11 per sq. mt. The appellants were not satisfied with the above offer/award and as such preferred a Reference un....
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....lot No. 7/1 admeasuring 1900 sq. mt. situate nearby the acquired land. The said plot of land was allotted by the GIDC to M/s Dhanlaxmi Automobiles for establishing a petrol pump @ Rs.450/- per sq. mt. The said allotment was on lease whereas the land of the appellants was a freehold land and as such at the time of acquisition its value was not liable to be below Rs.450/- per sq.mt. 7. No doubt, the aforesaid Plot No. 7/1 was within the proximity of the GIDC area and was hardly about a kilometre away from the land of the appellants but it was for commercial purposes whereas the land of the appellants, which may have had the potential of becoming a developed area, was in reality, an agricultural land. 8. The letter of allotment of the sa....
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.... acquired under Section 4 of the Act on 24.07.1989. Thus, there is a gap of over a year between the acquisition of the present land and the allotment of land of Plot No. 7/1 for establishing a petrol pump and fixing its price @ Rs.180/- per sq. mt. During this period of one year if the trend of rising prices is taken into account, one can easily say that the prices in this one year may have increased at least by 5%. Thus, increasing the rate of Rs. 180/- per sq. mt. by 5%, the revised rate comes out to Rs.189/- per sq. mt. rounded off to Rs.190/- per sq. mt. 11. It is an accepted principle that the land acquired is never used in the form it exists. It has to be first developed and made suitable either for habitation or for industrial pur....
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....nner. Some amount of guess work is always permissible. Therefore, a judge has to sit in an arm chair and without much taxing his mind has to determine the market value in a prudent manner. 14. Thus, in the facts and circumstances of the case, when the GIDC itself has fixed the premium price of a plot of land in Ranoli Industrial Estate at a rate of Rs.180/- per sq. mt. w.e.f. 25.03.1988, taking it to be the basis or as a best exemplar, the compensation for the acquired land can easily be determined by giving advantage of Rs.10/- per sq. mt. of enhancement on account of rising prices and then applying deduction of (40% + 10%) 50% on account of development and largeness in area. Thus, the market rate of the acquired land to our mind turns ....