The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill2011was
introduced in Lok Sabha in 2011. In pursuance of the the Right to Fair
Compensation, Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement
Act(An Act of the Indian Parliament) came into force in2013. The main intent of
the legislation is to regulate land acquisition, and lays down the procedure and
rules for grant of compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement to the affected
persons in India. This Act thus replaces the Land Acquisition Act 1894, enacted
during the British Rule.
Public Purpose and Consent
The 2013 Act requires consent of 70%of the land owners in case of Public
Private Partnership (PPP) Project(land acquisition for Jewar Airport in Greater
Noida is an instance) and 80% of land owners in case of private entities. No
consent is required for Government projects. The 2015 Bill passed by the Lok
Sabha however exempts five types of projects from the requirement of obtaining
consent from the land owners. These five categories of projects are (i) defence
(ii) rural infrastructure (iii) affordable housing (iv) industrial corridors
(v) infrastructure including PPP’s where the land owner is the government.
Valuation of Land
Often a question of valuation of the land for acquisition as per its being
residential or commercial comes into play.
In 2009, the Punjab and Haryana High Court notified 229 acres of land for
residential projects and the compensation was fixed at Rs 12 lakh per acre. The
Reference Court further enhanced it to Rs 48.4 lakh per acre. The state accepted
the award but the landowners moved the HC for further enhance ment. The High
Court in 2016 then enhanced the land value at the rate of Rs 2 crore per acre
stating that the land was situated at prime location. The Haryana Government
challenged the same in the Honble Supreme Court stating that it had wrongly been
classified as commercial land. In progression the of their arguments, they
produced before the Apex Court the sale deeds pertaining to the land which had
fetched between Rs 4 lakh and 8 lakh per acre. The land owners challenged the
production of sale deed by the Government stating that the same failed to
reflect the true market value of the land. The Honble Supreme Court held that
the Punjab and Haryana High Court had wrongfully ignored the sale deeds which
showed the land in question to be agricultural land and set aside the decision
of the High Court.
Controversial provisions as under the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Act
The issue is the interpretation of Section 24 of the Right to Fair Compensation
and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act,
2013.In 2014 in the matter ofÂ
Pune Municipal Corporation vs Harakchand
Misrimal Solanki, on 24th January, 2014,a three- Judge Bench of the Supreme
Court interpreted it to mean that acquisition proceedings initiated under the
1894 Act, five years prior to the coming in force of the 2013 Act would lapse if
the acquired land was not taken possession of by the state or compensation was
not paid to the displaced farmers. It was further held in this case that if the
landowner refuses to receive the compensation, then it should be deposited in
the Court, rather than in the Government Treasury if the proceedings were not to
lapse.
Another three judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra inÂ
Indore Development
Authority vs Shailendra (D) through LRS and Ors on 8th Feb 2018. held that
this ruling is per incuriam, because the landowner cannot take advantage of his
own wrong by refusing to accept compensation under the old Act, in order to make
it lapse so that he could obtain higher compensation under the 2013 Act. The
facts of this case are that the IDA prepared a plan which came into force on
March 21, 1995 for the purposes of constructing a Ring Road outside Indore City.
Possession of the land was with the encroachers and not with the landowners. The
Compensation was deposited by the IDA with the Land Acquisition Collector. The
landowners were informed to collect it but refused to do so. It is then the
Hon’ble Apex Court held that landowners cannot take advantage of their own wrong
and that five years would exclude the litigation.
After conflicting opinions this matter has been referred to a larger Bench on
Feb 22, 2018. The observations made are that the 2013 Act does not delineate a
time limit for taking possession of the acquired land or payment of compensation
to the landholder. It on the flip side enable grant of greater compensation
benefits to the land owner provided the process of acquisition remained
incomplete despite the passage of five years after it started under the 1894
Act. In this regard the proceedings under the new Act would come into play as
the State would have to start land acquisition proceedings afresh for the same
land.
Thus as per the Bill the computation of the Five year should exclude any period
during which a court has granted a stay or possession has been taken but
compensation has been deposited in the Court or designated account.
Impact of the Land Acquisition Act and Pitfalls
As the land acquisition costs are very high there is a setback for acquisition
of land for affordable housing schemes.
In March 2018 the Lok Sabha passed the Specific Relief (Amendment Bill),
2018 amending the existing Specific Relief Act, 1963 whereby the legislation if
passed by the Rajya Sabha, will alter the fundamental principles of property in
India by prohibiting courts from granting injunctions in contract s involving
infrastructure projects. Thus for instance if there is an infrastructure project
like a building a metro line or highway involving a private firm and it decides
to violate a citizen’s right by illegally dumping construction material on their
land, earlier the property owner could have moved for an injunction restraining
the company from violating his property rights. After this amendment, the
ramifications will be massive as it will incentivize government and private
owners to violate property rights with impunity rather than comply with the
legal provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013.
Related Articles on Land Acquisition:
1.Â
Constitutional Validity of Land Acquisition In India
2.Â
The Outlook of Land Acquisition Bill3.Â
Compensation on Acquisition of Agricultural and Non- Agricultural Land
4.Â
Company: Meaning and Interpretation under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894
5.Â
Constitutional Validity of the Land Acquisition Act, 1984
6.Â
Land Acquisition for SEZ
7.Â
Land Acquisition Act - Under the Scanner of the Supreme Court
8.Â
Tenancy Reforms in India
9.Â
To SEZ or not to SEZ
10.Â
Right To Property
11.Â
Mesne Profit12.Â
Process of Land Acquisition
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