Land Acquisition Act : Its Scope

EXTENT OF APPLICATION OF ACT

Prior to 1984, the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 was not applicable to the States of Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan, Kerala and Nagaland which had their own self-contained Land Acquisition Acts. These Acts differed in some respects from the Act of 1894 but the broad scheme was generally the same. In 1984 the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act was passed (hereafter referred to as the Amendment Act 1984). It made the Land Acquisition Act,1894 applicable to the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir which enjoys a special position under the Constitution and still continues to be governed by the States (Jammu and Kashmir) Land Acquisition Act, 1990 (1930 A.D.)

ACQUISITION UNDER ALLIED STATUTES

Apart from the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, (hereinafter called 'The Act') which is directly and exclusively concerned with the acquisition of land by the Government there are a large number of other laws (Central as well as States) which permit the Government to acquire land for specific purposes such as planned development of industries, slum clearance, town planning/improvements, implementation of municipal housing schemes etc. Instances of such Acts are:

¨ The Forest Act, 1927 (see Appendix 3);

¨ The Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition & Development) Act, 1957;

¨ The Slum Areas (Improvement & Clearance) Act, 1956;

¨ The Delhi Development Act, 1957;

¨ The Maharashtra Industrial Development Act, 1961.

STATE AMENDMENTS TO THE ACT

This Act has been enacted by the Central Government. However, the state Governments have the power to amend its provisions. (Article 246 of the Constitution read with item 42 of List III in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution). This means that within the territory of each State the Act will be applicable in the amended form.

The State Government can make any amendments they want as long as such changes are not opposed to the provisions as they stand in the Act. For example, the Act requires that the award of the Collector must be made within a specified time limit. Now, suppose a State Government amended this provision so that there was no such time limit and the Collector could take as long as he liked, such an amendment would be ineffective because it would be opposed to and defeat the object that the Central Government had in mind viz. to ensure that each stage of the acquisition proceedings is completed within a reasonable time-frame. Therefore, the Central provision would continue to be operative. (Article 254(1) of the Constitution).

Under certain circumstances an amendment which is inconsistent with the provisions of the Central Act may stil! be a valid one (Article 254 (2) of the Constitution). However, the Central Government has the power to modify such an amendment or to declare it as invalid (provision to Article 254 (2) of the Constitution).

Broadly speaking it is the Central Government which determines the content of the law.

Significant amendments by the States to the Act have been discussed in Appendix I.

Though the procedure for acquiring property in each stage is broadly that prescribed by the Act, there are regional variations with regard to matters such as: the authority who has the power to set in motion the acquisition proceedings, the manner in which notices must be publicised, persons on whom notices must be served etc.

OBJECT OF THE LAND ACQUISITION ACT, 1894

The Act seeks to set out the circumstances and the purposes for which private land can be acquired by the Central/State Government. The procedure to be followed in making an acquisition under the Act is briefly as follows:

STAGE I

¨ Publication of a preliminary notification by the Government that !and in a particular locality is needed or may be needed for a public purpose or for a company. S. 4(1).

¨ Entry of authorised officers on such land for the purpose of survey and ascertaining whether it is suitable for the purpose in view S. 4 (2).

¨ Filing of objections to the acquisition by persons interested and enquiry by Collector. S. 5-A.

STAGE II

¨ Declaration of intended acquisition by Government. S 6(1)

¨ Publication of declaration as required by the Act. S.6(2)

¨ Collector to take order from the Government for acquisition and land to be marked out, measured and planned. Sections 7 & 8.

STAGE III

¨ Public notice and individual notices to persons interested to file their claims for compensation. S. 9.

¨ Enquiry into claims by Collector. S. 11

¨ Award of Collector. S. 11-15

¨  Reference to Court. S. 18-28.

 STAGE IV

¨ Taking of possession of the land by the Collector. S.16.

¨ Payment of Compensation. S. 31-34.

THE LAND ACQUISITION (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1984

The Act was drastically amended in 1984 by the Central Government. The Amendment Act of 1984 has resulted in:

¨ The setting down of a time limit for the completion of all formalities between the issue of the preliminary notices u/s 4(1) and the issues the declaration of acquisition u/s 6(1). First proviso to S. 6(1).

¨ The setting down of a time limit within which the Collector must make hi; award. S. 11-A.

¨ Payment of 12 p.a. interest for the period commencing from the date( of the notice u/s 4(1) and ending with the date of the Collector's award S 23(1-A).

¨ Payment of solatium (i.e. compensation for loss, suffering or injuret feelings) at an increased rate of 30 of the market value of the acquire! land, S. 23(2). Prior to this amendment solatium was payable at the rat( of 15 of the market value awarded

¨ The provision of an opportunity to those dissatisfied with the Collector' award to apply to him for a redetermination of the compensation payabli to them on the basis of an order for higher compensation obtained by an one of them from the Reference Court S. 28-A.

These changes introduced by the Amendment Act of 1984 an beneficial for they seek to:

¨ Minimise the undue delays that characterise acquisition proceedings; and

¨ Provide for payment of compensation on a realistic scale.

However, this Amendment Act has created far more disadvantage for the people; it has conferred greater discretionary powers on the Government for acquiring land under S.17.

Another important aspect of the Amendment Act relates to the provision dealing with the acquisition of land for companies:

It has simplified the procedure for acquisition of land for a corporatio owned or controlled by the state by providing that acquisition for such a bod will be regarded as for a public purpose. S.3(f)(iv).

Thus, it will not be necessary for such a body to fulfill the two precondition that all non-government companies are required to satisfy before the Act ca be set in motion to acquire land on their behalf. S. 39.

However, the urgency provision S.17 can no longer be utilised to take possession of your land even before the Collector has made his award in cases where the acquisition is being made on behalf of a non-government company

This amendment was introduced because it was felt that acquisition of land for a private enterprise should not be the same as an acquisition by the Government itself or for an enterprise owned or controlled by it. It is thus simpler for the Government or one of its enterprises to acquire land under the Act than it is for non-Government companies.

All these amendments have been discussed in greater detail elsewhere.