The provisions of the Land Acquisition Act-2013 and the old Act of 1894

- Lokabhimukha Guidance - H.S. Patel IAS (Retd.)

- The 2013 Act exempts social impact studies in case of acquisition for urgent public purpose

In India, after the East India Company - after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the administration under the British government began and in it, after the rebellion of 1857, regulatory laws were enacted by the British and the Act of 1894 was enacted to acquire land for public purpose. The law of 2013, that is, the old law was in force for 125 years until the new law came into force and is called 'The Right to fair Compensation and Transparency in Land acquisition, Rehabilitation, Resettlement Act 2013'. Known as -2013. First of all, if we look at the basic legal provisions, every citizen has been given basic rights in the constitution. The right to own property was 'Right to Property'. This right was added to Article-300 of the Constitution after the 'Minerva Mills' judgment of the Supreme Court and the right to own property was made a 'legal right' from a fundamental right, i.e. no one's property can be taken unless the process of 'Save as provided by Law' is followed. These basic principles have their legal source in the Land Acquisition Act.

In the old law of Land Acquisition Act, the definition of Public Purpose has been clarified. In the previous law, land could be acquired for a private industry / company if the state government recognized it for public purpose, now the new law has tightened the provisions for private purpose or company and includes 80% consent of the concerned land holders and provisions for social impacts and rehabilitation and resettlement. Also, permission has been given after consultation with the village committee and the local authority. The earlier Act had provision for issue of preliminary notification under Section-4 and there was no provision for extension of time beyond the period of one year. According to Article-11 of the new law, after the preliminary notification, the state government can extend the period of the preliminary notification by recording special reasons.

The old Act of 1894 provided for declaration of acquisition award under Section-11 and contained criteria for determining compensation. It has a provision to announce the award under Section-23 of the new 2013 Act. What is an award to a common person? If that question arises, the process of determining the compensation for the land/property being acquired, the award shall be treated as a final decision/order and accordingly the land acquired shall be fully vested in the Government (Appropriate Authority). The award shall include the name of the acquiring body, the public purpose of the acquisition, the village in which the land to be acquired is located, the name of the taluka and the survey number, sub-number, block number if the property is located in the CT survey area, the details of the CT survey number, preliminary declaration as per the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act - Dates of final notification of 11 and 19 and details of notification to interested parties if exempted from social impact study, rehabilitation and rehabilitation plan prepared, ownership of land, parties having rights over land, authority of land Accuracy of land type and measurement, land location, location, condition description, NA Potential, land type, land level, slope, type of agricultural land, tillage, horticulture, permanent irrigation equipment, shape, land improvement if any, In case of rural land, and near or far from village, similarly in urban area, location and developed areas, network of roads, traffic and other facilities, if objections are raised by interested parties, objections. Donor's Status / Hesiat, Evidence, Land Valuation Evidence submitted by the issuing institution, Sale Evidence received from the Sub-Registrar is to be included in the award. After the award is prepared, the prior approval of the State Government has to be obtained by the Editorial Officer and there are legal provisions to announce the award within one year from the issue of the final notification.

After knowing the details of the above award, the most important thing is to know the criteria for determining the compensation in the new law for the public purpose of the land holder for which the land is acquired and accordingly in section-26 of the Act, the compensation is determined and the collector in section-27. There are provisions to determine the amount. Therefore, in determining the compensation, the first consideration is the market value fixed for registration of the sale document or contract under the Indian Stamp Act or the average sale price of the land in the adjoining village or nearby area or the amount fixed by consent for acquisition of land in the case of a private company. Whichever is the highest and the date on which the primary notification u/s 11 of the acquisition is issued is to be considered for calculating the market value. In all these proceedings the right of the land owner in determining the valuation of the land for determining the compensation for the land is an important matter. This matter is technically legal as well as sensitive as one's right to ownership is lost and is often a means of sustenance and permanent livelihood, therefore the new law has made transparent provisions for fair compensation to the land/property holders so that the determination of compensation is important and the land holders We will explain the points that are necessary to know.