DETIL ON LAND EQUASITION

1. LAND ACQUISITION
SEM IX PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

2. LAND ACQUISITION ACT 1894
Enacted by the Govt of India under the Colonial Regime to acquire land required by govt.
for various public purposes. It has been amended from time to time.
Salient Features
• Land acquired for ‘greater good’ of the public.
• Sale by the landholder is compulsory, not optional.
• Owner can expect to receive compensation as per market value as against sentimental
association.
• Property under consideration is cleared of any encumbrances (such as mortgage/
litigation etc..)
• In addition to compensation at market value, owner is entitled to additional
compensation of 30% on the value of such land for compulsory acquisition – referred
to as solatium.
• Acquisition denotes transfer of bundle of rights of the land vested with the original
owner, passing on to the acquirer by leaving nothing to the former.

3. Procedure of acquisition -
• Investigation
• Objection and confirmation
• Claim, Valuation and award
• Possession
• Payment
• Reference to court
• Apportionment.

4. Investigation
• Local authority to apply to Revenue authority with details surrounding the land in
question.
• Govt. if satisfied, issues notification under section 4 of the Act of 1894 in the State
Govt. Gazette.
• Revenue officer is appointed to function as collector to undertake the enquiry.
• After notification, owner is prevented from selling / disposing the property in any other
manner/ construct or renovate the property as deemed fit.
• If disposition is done without prior permission of the collector, then the owner is not
entitled to any compensation.

5. Objection and Confirmation
• Notice on acquisition is served inviting objections.
Valid objections –
a) If proposal is not for public purposes.
b) Land is not suitable for the intended program.
c) Less suitable than other pieces of land.
d) Area under acquisition is in excess.
e) Threat to historical monuments, public amenities, desecration of religious structures,
graveyards etc.
After the hearing of objections, the collector prepares a report of the proceedings and is
submitted to the Govt. If the conditions are satisfied, then the land will be acquired.
If the owners’ objections are deemed valid, then the acquisition is considered invalid and
the notification of acquisition is cancelled.

6. Claim and Award
• Land acquisition Officer issues notices to file claim report.
• LAO will conduct enquiries which are not judicial ones.
• The award is merely an offer unless the parties in question accept the same.
• LAO is to refrain from the proceedings.
• LAO is expected to have expert knowledge on valuation.
• LAO is expected to offer a ‘fair price’ to the owner.
• No involvement of public fund for the proceedings in any way.
Claim filed before LAO should contain the following -
• Name of claimants with shares.
• Documentation of profits , rents for last 3 years.
• Valuation report along with documented evidence.
• Declaration - whether area as per acquisition notice is acceptable or not.
• The Govt has the right to abandon the acquisition proceedings any time before final
declaration.
• Apportionment of compensation – in case of two or more claimants.

7. RIGHT TO FAIR COMPENSATION AND TRANSPARENCY IN LAND ACQUISITION,
REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENT ACT – 2013
- Land acquisition act was amended to facilitate fair compensation, or rehabilitation or
resettlement of the claimants.
- Intended to make the acquisition process transparent – addition of clauses to enable
publication of the proceedings and timely notifications for public viewing.
- Was a step to enable industrial corridors to be setup across the country, especially for
projects undertaken as per public –private partnerships.
- LARR Act was introduced in 2011, however after multiple negotiations was passed in
Aug 2013. The Act was enacted upon since Jan 2014.
- A land ordinance was also propagated in the Parliament but lapsed in 2021.
- In general a social impact assessment report was proposed to be prepared as per the
LARR 2013. The ordinance in lieu of the Highways Act and Railways Act had purported
to discredit the need of such reports, which faced opposition as it would threaten
farmers’ rights.

8. PROVISIONS UNDER LARR 2013.
• Compensation in rural areas would be calculated by multiplying market value by two
and adding assets + solatium
• Compensation in urban areas – as per market value + assets attached to the land +
solatium
• Developers to get the consent of up to 80 % of people whose land is acquired for
private projects. For PPP projects 70% consent of the land claimants is mandatory.
• Multi-cropped, irrigated land cannot be acquired unless stated for defense purposes or
for the purposes of disaster management.
• Land should be returned to original owner, if acquired land is not used in 5 years.
Refund of 1/4th of the compensation amount with interest from the date of payment.
• The govt. will not acquire land for private companies or for private purposes.
• The Bill mandated social impact assessment when the govt. proposes an acquisition of
more than 40 Hectares of land. The Report is to be conducted in consultation with the
Gram Sabha and other local authorities. The Act also necessitated the appointment of
a rehabilitation administrator.

9. PROVISIONS UNDER LARR 2013.
• Both Land acquisition and Rehabilitation – resettlement provisions of the LARR Act will
apply to projects when govt acquires land for its own use or private companies to make
sure of public purposes. Includes PPP projects.
• In case if companies directly acquire land over 40 Ha from land owners, then they are
solely responsible for R&R.
• The Act also proposed the provision of schools, health centres and civic infrastructure
in the resettlement areas.
• Urgency clause in case of acquisition can be exercised only in case of national defense
related concerns. In such a case, a public hearing is mandatory.

10. Salient Features of Land Ordinance proposed since 2015.
5 categories of land use were identified
• Defense and national security projects.
• Affordable Housing and Housing for the poor.
• Rural/ Social Infrastructure.
• Industrial Corridors
• PPP infrastructure projects with Central Govt. – this also included highway and railways
project expansions.
The Ordinance made provisions where in social impact assessment was not required for
the above typologies of projects. The ordinance also purported non requirement of 70-
80% consent of the land owners or claimants, which raised multiple oppositions and court
cases.
One member from each family of land owners (in case of farm labourers) will be
employed when their tilled land is acquired.
The amendment suggested to limit the area of land acquired for industrial purposes.
LARR 2013 mentioned private companies for land acquisition. However Land Ordinance
changed the term to ‘private entities’ which could include NGOs, individuals, firms,
corporations etc.