DR.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW

UNIVERSITY, LUCKNOW

SUBJECT: LAND LAW (UTTAR PRADESH)

Session: 2019 - 2020

FINAL DRAFT

ON

“Land Acquisition Act, 2013 (Right to Fair Compensation and

Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Act)”

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

Dr. Shakuntala Devi Shubham Singh Rawat

Assistant Professor (Law) B.A. LLB (Hons.)

RMLNLU Sec. B; Enroll. No.-134

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my gratitude and deep regards to my teacher Dr. Shakuntala Devi for giving me such a
challenging topic and also for her exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement
throughout the course of this project.

I also take this opportunity to express a deep sense of gratitude to my seniors in the college for
their cordial support, valuable information and guidance, which helped me in completing this
task through various stages.

I am obliged to the staff members of the Madhu Limaye Library, for the timely and valuable
information provided by them in their respective fields. I am grateful for their cooperation during
the period of my assignment.

Lastly, I thank almighty, my family and friends for their constant encouragement without which
this assignment would not have been possible.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction………………………………………………………………..4-5

II. Aim & Purpose of Land Acquisition Act, 2013…………………………..5-6

III. Important Provisions………………………………………………………6-7

IV. Features of Land Acquisition Act, 2013…………………………………….8

V. Compensation under Land Acquisition Act, 2013………………………...8-9

VI. Conclusion………………………………………………………………….10

VII. Bibliography………………………………………………………………..10

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INTRODUCTION
The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Act, 2013 (also Land Acquisition Act, 2013) is an Act of Indian Parliament that
regulates land acquisition and lays down the procedure and rules for granting compensation,
rehabilitation and resettlement to the affected persons in India. The Act has provisions to provide
fair compensation to those whose land is taken away, brings transparency to the process of
acquisition of land to set up factories or buildings, infrastructural projects and assures
rehabilitation of those affected. The Act establishes regulations for land acquisition as a part of
India's massive industrialization drive driven by public-private partnership. The Act replaced the
Land Acquisition Act, 1894, a nearly 120-year-old law enacted during British rule.
The Government of India believed there was a heightened public concern on land acquisition
issues in India. Of particular concern was that despite many amendments, over the years, to
India's Land Acquisition Act of 1894, there was an absence of a cohesive national law that
addressed fair compensation when private land is acquired for public use, and fair rehabilitation
of land owners and those directly affected from loss of livelihoods. The Government of India
believed that a combined law was necessary, one that legally requires rehabilitation and
resettlement necessarily and simultaneously follow government acquisition of land for public
purposes.
Forty-Fourth Amendment Act of 1978 omitted Art 19(1) (f) with the net result being:-

1. The right not to be deprived of one's property save by authority of law has since been no
longer a fundamental right. "No person shall be deprived of his property saved by
authority of law" (Constitution 44th Amendment, w.e.f. 10.6.1979). The amendment
ensured that the “right to property” is no more a fundamental right but rather a
constitutional/legal right/as a statutory right and in the event of breach, the remedy
available to an aggrieved person is through the High Court under Article 226 of the
Indian Constitution and not the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution.

2. Moreover, no one can challenge the reasonableness of the restriction imposed by any law
the legislature made to deprive the person of his property.

State must pay compensation at the market value for such land, building or structure acquired,1
the same can be found in the earlier rulings when property right was a fundamental right2 {which
propounded that the word "Compensation" deployed in Article 31(2) implied full compensation
i.e. the market value of the property at the time of the acquisition. The Legislature must "ensure
that what is determined as payable must be compensation, that is, a just equivalent of what the
owner has been deprived of"}. Elsewhere, Justice, Reddy, O Chinnappa3 ruled that the

1
Constitution, Seventeenth Amendment Act, 1964
2
1954 AIR 170, 1954 SCR 558
3
State Of Maharashtra v. Chandrabhan Tale on 7 July 1983

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fundamental right to property has been abolished because of its incompatibility with the goals of
"justice" social, economic and political and "equality of status and of opportunity" and with the
establishment of "a socialist democratic republic, as contemplated by the Constitution. There is
no reason why a new concept of property should be introduced in the place of the old so as to
bring in its wake the vestiges of the doctrine of Laissez Faire and create, in the name of
efficiency, a new oligarchy. Efficiency has many facets and one is yet to discover an infallible
test of efficiency to suit the widely differing needs of a developing society such as ours".4

AIM OF LAND ACQUISITION ACT, 2013

The aims and objectives of the Act include:

 To ensure, in consultation with institutions of local self-government and Gram Sabhas

established under the Constitution of India, a humane, participative, informed and
transparent process for land acquisition for industrialisation, development of essential
infrastructural facilities and urbanisation with the least disturbance to the owners of the
land and other affected families.

 Provide just and fair compensation to the affected families whose land has been acquired
or proposed to be acquired or are affected by such acquisition.

 Make adequate provisions for such affected persons for their rehabilitation and
resettlement.

 Ensure that the cumulative outcome of compulsory acquisition should be that affected
persons become partners in development leading to an improvement in their post-
acquisition social and economic status and for matters connected therewith or incidental
thereto.

PURPOSE OF LAND ACQUISITION ACT, 2013

The Act aims to establish the law on land acquisition, as well as the rehabilitation and
resettlement of those directly affected by the land acquisition in India. The scope of the Act
includes all land acquisition whether it is done by the Central Government of India, or any State
Government of India, except the state of Jammu & Kashmir.
The Act is applicable when:
 Government acquires land for its own use, hold and control, including land for Public
sector undertakings.

 Government acquires land with the ultimate purpose to transfer it for the use of private
companies for stated public purpose. The purpose of LARR 2011 includes public-private-
partnership projects, but excludes land acquired for state or national highway projects.

4
{1983 AIR 803, 1983 SCR (3) 327}.

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  Government acquires land for immediate and declared use by private companies for
public purpose.

The provisions of the Act does not apply to acquisitions under 16 existing legislations including
the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, the Railways Act, 1989,
etc.

IMPORTANT PROVISIONS:-
Definition of public purpose:-
Section 2(1) of the Act defines the following as public purpose for land acquisition within India:

 For strategic purposes relating to naval, military, air force, and armed forces of the
Union, including central paramilitary forces or any work vital to national security or
defence of India or State police, safety of the people; or
 For infrastructure projects, which includes the following, namely:

o All activities or items listed in the notification of the Government of India in the
Department of Economic Affairs (Infrastructure Section) number 13/6/2009-INF,
dated 27 March 2012, excluding private hospitals, private educational institutions
and private hotels;

o Projects involving agro-processing, supply of inputs to agriculture, warehousing,

cold storage facilities, marketing infrastructure for agriculture and allied activities
such as dairy, fisheries, and meat processing, set up or owned by the appropriate
Government or by a farmers' cooperative or by an institution set up under a
statute;

o Project for industrial corridors or mining activities, national investment and

manufacturing zones, as designated in the National Manufacturing Policy;
o Project for water harvesting and water conservation structures, sanitation;

o Project for Government administered, Government aided educational and research

schemes or institutions;
o Project for sports, health care, tourism, transportation of space programme;

o Any infrastructure facility as may be notified in this regard by the Central

Government and after tabling of such notification in Parliament;
 Project for project affected families;

 Project for housing, or such income groups, as may be specified from time to time by the
appropriate Government;

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  Project for planned development or the improvement of village sites or any site in the
urban areas or provision of land for residential purposes for the weaker sections in rural
and urban areas;

 Project for residential purposes to the poor or landless or to persons residing in areas
affected by natural calamities, or to persons displaced or affected by reason of the
implementation of any scheme undertaken by the Government, any local authority or a
corporation owned or controlled by the State.

When government declares public purpose and shall control the land directly, consent of the land
owner shall not be required. However, when the government acquires the land for private
companies, the consent of at least 80% of the project affected families shall be obtained through
a prior informed process before government uses its power under the Act to acquire the
remaining land for public good, and in case of a public-private project at least 70% of the
affected families should consent to the acquisition process.

The Act includes an urgency clause for expedited land acquisition. The urgency clause may only
be invoked for national defense, security and in the event of rehabilitation of affected people
from natural disasters or emergencies.

Definition of 'land owner':-

The Act defines the following as land owner:

1. person whose name is recorded as the owner of the land or building or part thereof, in the
records of the authority concerned; or
2. person who is granted forest rights under The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional
Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 or under any other law for the
time being in force; or

3. Person who is entitled to be granted Patta rights on the land under any law of the State
including assigned lands; or
4. any person who has been declared as such by an order of the court or Authority;

Limits on acquisition:-
The Act forbids land acquisition when such acquisition would include multi-crop irrigated area.
However such acquisition may be permitted on demonstrable last resort, which will be subjected
to an aggregated upper limit for all the projects in a District or State as notified by the State
Government. In addition to the above condition, wherever multi-crop irrigated land is acquired
an equivalent area of cultivable wasteland shall be developed by the state for agricultural
purposes. In other type of agricultural land, the total acquisition shall not exceed the limit for all
the projects in a District or State as notified by the Appropriate Authority. These limits shall not

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apply to linear projects which includes projects for railways, highways, major district roads,
power lines, and irrigation canals.

Features of Land Acquisition Act, 2013:-

 Consent: For government projects, no consent is required while consent of 70 per cent of
landowners is required for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects and 80 per cent for
private projects.
 Social Impact Assessment: In the case of a land acquisition (irrespective of the ownership
of project), Social Impact Assessment is necessary unless and until there is an urgency. If
the project is for irrigation, then Environmental Impact Assessment is required.
 Irrigated multi-cropped land: In case the land in question is irrigated multi-cropped, it
cannot be acquired beyond a limit specified by the state government.
 Limitations: The Central Act of 2013 was brought to give effect to pre-existing
fundamental right to livelihood of citizens. It ensures that livelihood will not be taken
away unless:-
a) It is in public interest and that is seen by social impact assessment.
b) The affected citizens are given rehabilitation.

The amendments made without considering the above factors will take away fundamental
rights of the citizens.
 Safeguards: State Governments have to set up dispute settlement Chairman and he should
be a district judge or practicing as a lawyer for 7 years. The Act also has provision for the
establishment of Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authority for speedy
disposal of disputes.
 Return of land: If the project doesn't start in 5 years, the land acquired under the Act has
to be returned to the original owner or the land bank.

Compensation under the 2013 Land Acquisition Act:-

 Compensation varies with the market rates. In the case of rural area, it is four times the
market rate and for an urban area, it is two times. Affected artisans, small traders,
fisherman etc. by the land acquisition are given one-time payment even if they do not
own any land.
 There is also provision for rehabilitation and resettlement award which includes
employment to one member of an affected family.
 If Government acquires the lands for a private company, the said private company will be
responsible for relief and rehabilitation of the affected people along with an additional
rehabilitation package for SC/ST owners.
 Fertile, irrigated, multi-cropped farmland can be acquired only in last resort. If such
fertile land is acquired, the Government will have to develop an equal size of wasteland
for agriculture purpose.

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  In case someone is not satisfied with an award under the Act, they can approach the Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Authority.

According to Sec. 28, in determining the amount of compensation to be awarded for land
acquired under ‘The Right to Fair Compensation and transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013’; the collector shall take into consideration:-

i. Firstly, the market value as determined under sec. 26 and the award amount in accordance with
the first and second schedules.

ii. Secondly, the damage sustained by the person interested by reason of the taking of any
standing crop and trees which may be as the land at the time of the collector’s taking possession
thereof.

iii. Thirdly, the damage (if any) sustained by the person inserted, at the time of the collector’s
taking possession of the land, by reason of severing such land from his other land.

iv. Fourthly, the damage (if any) sustained by the person interested, at the time of collector’s
taking possession of the land by reason of the acquisition injuriously affecting his other property
movable or immovable, in any other manner or his earnings.

v. Fifthly, in consequence of the acquisition of the land by the collector, the person, interested is
compelled to change his residence or place of business, the reasonable expense (if any)
incidental to such charge.

vi. Sixthly, the damage (if any) bonafide resulting from diminution of the profit of the land
between the time of the publication of the declaration under sec. 19 and the time of the
collector’s taking possession of the land; and

vii. Seventhly, any other ground which may be in the interest of equity, justice and beneficial to
the affected families.

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 CONCLUSION

To conclude, the Act is a step forward as it finally attempts to address the different concerns of
affected families in the process of initiating new projects in the country. Accelerating the process
of growth through industrialisation and facilitating the affected persons to become parties in this
process are articulated as the twin objectives of the Act. The expectation behind this planned
action is that industrialisation centred development leads to displacement and there is a need to
reintegrate the displaced people into development again. However, the Act has bulldozed all
inherent heterogeneity to arrive at an easy solution. It is now increasingly recognised that while
there can be universal overall principles of inducing growth, in practice these principles need to
be packaged in forms suitable for a particular reality. The package must be devised by the people
and for the people.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The project was made by the help of these external web links:-

 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/five-years-on-has-land-
acquisition-act-fulfilled-its-aim/articleshow/65639336.cms
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_Fair_Compensation_and_Transparency_in_Land_
Acquisition,_Rehabilitation_and_Resettlement_Act,_2013
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_acquisition_in_India
 https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/what-is-2013-land-
acquisition-act-and-why-social-activists-filed-a-petition-against-state-amendments-to-
the-law-1407978-2018-12-12
 https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/45164/9/chapter-
vii%20(conclusion).pdf

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