 The Constitution originally provided for the right to property under

Articles 19 and 31. Article 19 guaranteed to all citizens the right to

'acquire, hold and dispose of property'. Article 31 provided that "No
person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law."
 Forty-Fourth Amendment Act of 1978 omitted Art 19(1) (f). Moreover,
no one can challenge the reasonableness of the restriction imposed
by any law the legislature made to deprive the person of his
property.
 The 44th amendment act of 1978 deleted the right to property from
the list of Fundamental Rights. A new article, Article 300-A, was
added to the constitution which provided that "no person shall be
deprived of his property save by authority of law".
 Both the state government as well as the union (federal)
government was empowered to enact laws for the "acquisition or
requisition of property" (Schedule VII, Entry 42, and List III).
 JOURNEY FROM 1894 TO 2015
 The main central Act governing land acquisition is the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency
in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 (2013 Act). It replaced the Land
Acquisition Act, 1894 (1894 Act). Many states have also enacted laws to regulate land acquisition. The
2013 Act differed from the 1894 Act in several ways. It narrowed the definition of ‘public purpose’ i.e.
the types of projects for which land could be acquired. It required the consent of land owners if the
project was for a public private partnership (PPP) or a private company. Compensation was set at two
to four times of prevailing market rates and minimum norms for rehabilitation and resettlement of
affected persons were prescribed. The Act also required a Social Impact Assessment (SIA).

 In December 2014, an Ordinance was promulgated to amend the 2013 Act. The Ordinance was
promulgated in a modified form in April 2015, and again in May 2015.

 The ordinance issued thrice since last year had to be ratified by parliament within 6 weeks of the start
of monsoon session on July 22 but could not be ratified and passed and due to which land ordinance
lapsed on August 31, 2015.


 2013 Act and its provisions

 There are total 114 sections in this Act while in the 1894 Act total
section were 55.
 There are total four schedule attached with the 2013 Act.
 Schedule I deals with the compensation.
 Sechedule II deals with the elements of R & R.
 Sechedule III deals with the provisions of infrastructural amenities.
 Schedule IV deals with certain laws which are exempted from the
purview of this act.
 Forced Acquisition
Once government formed the intention they will do it.
 No safeguards
Hearing under Sec 5A was provided but not enough.
 Silent on resettlement and rehabilitation of those displaced
 Urgency clause
Never defined what constitute urgent need under sec 17 but now under sec 40 this provision
restricted to-defence and national security.
 Low rates of compensation
 Litigation

Even the Supreme Court said that the 1894 act had become a fraud beause of lack of all
these elements.
 Reduction in the Powers of the Collector
Under the 1894 Act, the Collector could decide what quantum of
compensation could be paid to those displaced. Under the new law, there is a
formula that does not require the collector to exercise any discretion
 Appellate Mechanism
Sec 5A “Hearing of objection”-Collector will give the opportunity’’but
now under the 2013 Act time bound mandatory Appellate Mechanism
has been provided under sec 15.
 Public Purpose
In the earlier Act-Public Purpose as well company but now only public
purpose.
 Fairer Compensation
 Consent
 Urgency Clause
 Rehabilitation and Resettlement
In what all cases the land would be
acquired-
 Government acquires land for its own use for public purpose.
 When ultimate aim is to transfer either to the private entity or to PPP but
for public purpose
 When government acquires land and immediately transfer to private
entity but again for public purpose

Now it’s very important that if there is no public purpose then the
government would not be acquiring land and this is the object and
philosophy of the 2013 Act.
BUT EARLIER GOVERNMENT USED TO ACQUIRE LAND FOR PUBLIC PURPOSE
AS WELL AS FOR COMPANIES AS THE WHOLE CHAPTER VII (SEC 38 to 44B)
WAS DEVOTED.
“Go by Preliminary Notification under sec 4 as well as the object, we will
get to know.”
Now what exactly is public
purpose?
According to Section 3 (za) of the Act, public purpose shall include the
following purposes namely:
 For STRATEGIC PURPOSES
 Infrastructure projects
 Relief Development: Project for project affected families;
 Planned Housing:
 Planned Development
 Housing for Displaced Persons
Step 1-Dtermination of SIA and Public Purpose (Chapter II, SEC 4 to 9)
Step 2-Specail Provision to safeguard public Security (Chapter III, SEC 10)
Step 3-Notification and Acquisition (Chapter IV, SEC 11 to 30)
Step 4- All these will be followed by taking possession (SEC 38)
Procedure…
Preliminary Notification
Once the SIA process has been executed satisfactorily, the proceedings to acquire the identified
land can begin. A ‘Preliminary Notification’ is issued under Section 11 of the 2013 Act. It is different
from the 1894 notification under section 4-
Firstly under the 2013 act it follow SIA Study, Appraisal which was absent in the 1894 Act.
Secondaly, the 1894 act empowered the govt to publish the notification that government needed
land either for public purpose or for a company, but under the 2013 Act it is only and the public
purpose.
Thirdly, the 2013 Act, requires the Preliminary Notification to state the details of the land and the
nature of public purpose involved and reasons necessating the displacement plus the summary of the
SIA report to be acquired but this was not in the earlier act.
 Updating Records and Survey
 Raising objections after the Preliminary Notification
 Preparation of the rehabilitation and resettlement scheme by administrator
 Declaration for Acquisition and summary of Rehabilitation and Resettlement report
 Award
 Rehabilitation and Resettlement Award
 Possession
And it is to be noted that the land will be acquired only when all procedure including the
Compensation, R & R is done.
 Section 4(4) of the 2013 Act provides the list of all those guiding principles to be
taken into consideration while preparing the report of SIA. These are-
a) Assessment as to whether the proposed acquisition serves public purpose.
b) Estimation of affected families and the number of families among them likely to
be displaced.
c) Extent of lands, public and private, houses, settlements and other common
properties likely to be affected by the proposed acquisition.
d) Whether the extent of land proposed for acquisition is the absolute bare-
minimum extent needed for the project.
e) Whether land acquisition at an alternate place has been considered and
found not feasible;
f) Study of social impacts of the project, and the nature and cost of addressing
them and the impact of these costs on the overall costs of the project vis-à-vis the
benefits of the project.
 Review by expert group
Provisions in the new Act
 The compensation provisions are contained in Section 26 to 30, 39 and First
Schedule of the Act
Urban Area
 A land owner in urban area whose land is acquired gets 2 times the market
value of his land as compensation.
Rural Area
 If rural land is acquired, land owner effectively gets upto four times the market
value as compensation.
Award of Solatium
 Section 30 of the New Act provides that the collector having determined the
total compensation to be paid, shall, to arrive at the final award, impose a
solatium amount equivalent to 100% of the compensation amount. Solatium
shall be in addition to the compensation payable to any person whose land has
been acquired.
Earlier it was the collector who will decide the amount of compensation but now he
can’t do anything because there is whole formula now.
 Section 31, 32,41,42,46 read with Second and Third Schedule
 Elements of Rehabilitation and Resettlement Entitlements
House
 If a family loses a house in a rural area as a result of the acquisition, then the law
requires a constructed house to be provided to them
Land
In the case of irrigation project, each affected family which has lost agricultural land is
to be allotted, a minimum of one acre of land in the command area of the project.
Offer for developed land
When land is acquired for urbanization, 20% of developed land to be reserved and
offered to land owning project affected families.
Choice of annuity or Government Employment
Other Financial Payments
Fishing Rights
When the 2013 Act will apply retrospectively-
 if the acquisition has been initiated under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (a
preliminary notification has been issued under Section 4 of that Act) but the
award under Section 11 of that act has not been passed then the provisions
of the new law which entitle the effected party to enhance compensation
will apply.
 where the award under section 11 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 was
passed five or more years ago but compensation has not been accepted
or the physical possession of the land has not been taken by the acquiring
authority then the acquisition will be treated as having lapsed and a fresh
acquisition, if necessary, will be carried out under the new act.
 where an award has been made under section 11 of the Land Acquisition
Act, 1894 and compensation in respect of a majority of land holdings has
not been accepted, then, all beneficiaries or persons who are likely to be
affected by the acquisition (as specified in the notification for acquisition
under Section 4 of the said Land Acquisition Act, 1894), shall be entitled to
compensation as per the provisions of the new law.
Pune Municipal Corporation vs. Harakchand
Solanki.(2014) 3 SCC 183.
 On 24 January 2014, a three judge bench of the Supreme Court of India pronounced
the very first judgment on the Right to Fair Compensation in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
Facts-
 Number of cases were combined and in all one thing was common that a period of
five or more years had passed since the land acquisition award had been made
under section 11 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and the applicants had refused to
accept the compensation.
 In this litigation, the acquiring authority (the Pune Municipal Corporation) argued that
they had deposited the amount in the treasury of the Government in fulfillment of
their obligations and therefore satisfied the requirement of paying compensation.
 Judgment
 A three judge bench of the SC (Justice Lodha, Madan Lokur and Kurien Joseph) held
that compensation would only be deemed to have been paid if it had been
deposited with the court and after having been offered to the individual concerned.
In this case, the compensation had only been deposited in the treasury.
Where only Physical Possession is Retained
and the role of the Delhi High Court

 The Delhi HC has played an important noble role in the

implementation of the Act. The High Court pronounced some of the
most detailed and insightful judgments of any High Courts on the
subject to release land that had been held up by a laconic
democracy.
 In the historic case of Jagjit Singh vs. Union of India 211(2014)DLT15,
Justice Badr Durrez Ahmed and Justice Sidharth Mridul of the
Hon’ble High Court of Delhi quashed a number of pending
acquisitions by the DDA as it was found the parties had satisfied the
terms of Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act.
THE PROVISION FOR FOOD SECURITY

 The year when the law on land acquisition was

being drafted, it also saw the also simultaneous
progress of an equally seminal legislation, the
National Food Security Act, 2013.
 The new law therefore under chapter III, Section 10
provides that no irrigated multi-cropped land shall
be acquired under this Act except under
exceptional circumstances and as last resort.
Furthermore, the acquisition of multi-cropped land
should not exceed such limits as may be notified by
the appropriate government.
PROVISIONS FOR THE SCHEDULED
CASTE AND THE SCHEDULED TRIBE
 Land acquisition itself in tribal areas is strongly discouraged under
the new law and is to be done only in the rarest of circumstances
where no alternatives are available. The operative section begins
with the following caveat:
Section 41: (1) as far as possible, no acquisition of land shall be made
in the scheduled areas.
NEW CONCEPTS UNDER THE LAND
ACQUISITION ACT, 2013
 Land Bank
 Section 101 of the Act provides that when any land acquired under this act remains
unutilized for a period of 5 years from the date of taking over the possession, the
same shall be returned to the original owner or to the Land bank of the appropriate
government.
 Option to the Appropriate government to take the land on lease
 Section 104 of the Act provides that the appropriate government be free to exercise
the option of taking the land on lease instead of acquisition, for any public purpose.
 Rehabilitation and Resettlement Provisions
 1894 Act provided for payment of compensation but was silent in rehabilitating those
who have been displaced but the new 2013 Act contains provisions on Rehabilitation
and Resettlement package in the second schedule to the Act.
 Mandatory SIA Study
 Social Impact Assessment has been made mandatory before any land acquisition.
ORDINANCES AND THE CONTROVERSY…

 In December 2014, an Ordinance was promulgated to amend the 2013 Act. The

Ordinance was promulgated in a modified form in April 2015, and again in May

2015.

 The ordinance issued thrice since last year had to be ratified by parliament within

6 weeks of the start of monsoon session on July 22 but could not be ratified and

passed and due to which land ordinance lapsed on August 31, 2015.
First change…..
It exempted five types of projects from certain provisions, these are-
 Defence;
 rural infrastructure;
 affordable housing;
 industrial corridors (set up by the government); and
 infrastructure projects.
These five categories of land will be exempted from the 3 provisions of the Act,
and these provisions are-
 obtaining the consent of 80% of land owners when land is acquired for a
private project and the consent of 70% of land owners when land is
acquired for the public-private partnership project;
 conducting a Social Impact Assessment; and
 limits on acquiring agricultural and multi-cropped land.
Second and third Change..
Return of unutilized land
 The 2013 Act required that if land acquired under it remained
unutilised for five years, it be returned to the original owners or the
land bank. But the Ordinance states that the period after which
unutilised land will need to be returned will be the later of: (i) five
years; or (ii) any period specified at the time of setting up the
project.
Compensation and R&R provisions of 13 other laws
 The 2013 Act exempted 13 other laws (such as the National
Highways Act, 1956 and the Railways Act, 1989) from its purview. The
Ordinance brings the compensation and rehabilitation and
resettlement (R&R) provisions of these 13 laws in consonance with
the Act.
Fourth and fifth….
Time period for retrospective application of Act
 The 2013 Act states that the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 will continue to
apply in those cases where an award has been made under the 1894 Act.
However, if the award was made five years or more before the enactment
of the 2013 Act, and the possession of land has not been taken or
compensation has not been paid, the 2013 Act will apply.
 The Ordinance states that in calculating this time period, the following will
not be included: (i) any period during which the process of acquisition was
held up due to an order of a court; (ii) a period specified by a Tribunal for
taking possession; and (iii) any period where possession was taken but the
compensation was lying deposited in a court/designated account
 Sanction
The Act stated that if an offence was committed by the government, the
head of the department would be deemed guilty unless he could show that
the offence was committed without his knowledge, or that he had exercised
due diligence to prevent the offence. The Ordinance removes this provision. It
requires that the prior sanction of the government be obtained before
prosecuting a public servant.
 Land Holder Land Acquirer
Land for him is his livelihood Business
Land is the only security for himself
Not applicable
and his family
Businesses are never alone but in
He is always alone
team

 Therefore any land acquisition has to protect the interest of the

land holder because he is not single but his whole family is
attached and dependent upon him.
 PM is saying that by this Act businesses will not be set up and new
jobs will not be created then we have to understand that how
development can be promoted over the dead body of the farmer
and when he doesn’t want to give his land happily.
 Firstly make him feel secure because businesses can wait but at
the same time human life is valuable.
 GDP Share Work Force
Agriculture 15% 50-60%
Industry 25% 20-30%
Services 60% 20-25%

And our structure is such which is forcing more to the government to

invest more so that more employment can be generated.
LARR ACT,2013

THANK YOU
SHIKHAR