2.1 Different parcels of lands of the claimants came to be acquired by the Government, for which notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 was published on 05.07.1996. The Land Acquisition Officer passed his award on 25.09.1998, in which he granted compensation at the rate of Rs.250/- per Are for non-irrigated lands and at the rate of Rs.375/- per Are for irrigated lands. The claimants sought reference against the award. Before the Reference Court, the claimants relied on yield method of assessment and produced evidence in this respect. From the evidence on record, the Reference Court came to the conclusion that the annual yield of the crops per ‘vigha’ was Rs.1,26,563/-. The Reference Court set apart 50% thereof for the cost of production such as fertilizer, pesticides, labour charges, etc. and held that the annual income from such land was Rs.63,281/- per ‘vigha’. The Reference Court adopted multiplier of 10 for the purpose of assessing market value of the land. Though not recorded in the judgment, this would mean that according to the Reference Court, the value of the land was assessed at Rs.6,32,815/- per ‘vigha’. Since the Land Acquisition Officer had awarded compensation on the basis of per Are computation, the Reference Court then converted such market value of the land on the basis of Ares. According to the learned Judge, this would come to Rs.3,955/- per Are. He therefore awarded such sum for irrigated lands and after deducting Rs.375/- already awarded by the Land Acquisition Officer, he awarded additional compensation of Rs.3580/- per Are. For nonirrigated lands, he reduced the compensation by 25% and granted additional compensation of Rs.2716/- per Are.
