LAND ACQUISITION FOR PUBLIC PURPOSES

INTRODUCTION

“Our land is more valuable than your money. It will last forever. It will not even perish by the
flames of fire. As long as the sun shines and the waters flow, this land will be here to give life
to men and animals. Compulsory acquisition of land not only leads to loss of economic assets
and livelihood but also disrupts communities, cultural identities, local markets for goods and
labour, consequently placing the ousters in a spiral of impoverishment1.”

More than 70% of the Indian population is lives in the rural areas and is highly dependent on
agriculture. Therefore we can witness few lands left unoccupied. There is a necessity for a
large number of lands in order to construct the roads, bridges, dams etc. which are taken up
by the government. To initiate this development the government has to acquire land due to
which the people are stripped away from their lands. In today’s world development is a must
but at what cost is the question? Should it be at the expense of the owners of the land or the
farmers? This research paper attempts to study the laws about land acquisitions and offers
recommendations for improving matters related to acquisition

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Bengal Regulation I was the first land acquisition act set out in 1824 in order to develop the
commercial interests of the British. The first railway came up in 1853 and the land for this
was acquired from the Bengal Regulation I. This act was later replaced by the Bengal
Regulation Act I 1850. This act extended its territorial limits till the town of Calcutta. All tis
acts were brought together as Act VI of 1857 and this time it was binding to British India.
Later in 1870 this act was replaced by Land Acquisition act (Act X of 1870).

This act was declared ineffective in the Supreme Court case of Radhey Shyam(D) Through
LRs and others v. State of U.P and others2. The act of 1894 was passed for the acquisition of
private lands for government purposes. This act did not permit the land owner or the farmers
to show their unwillingness regarding the land acquisition. The grievances of the farmers

1
Isapo Muxika or Blackfoot, 19th Century Chief of Siksika First Nation Tribe in Current Day, Canada. Cited
from Sharon O’Brien, American Indian Tribal Governments, 70 (University of Oklahoma Press: Norman and
London, 1993)
2
“The history of land acquisition shows that in Eighteenth century, Bengal Regulation I of 1924, Act I of 1850,
Act VI of 1857, Act XXII of 1863, Act X of 1870, Bombay Act XXVIII of 1839, Bombay Act XVII of 1850,
Madras Act XX of 1852 and Madras Act I of 1854 were enacted to facilitate the acquisition of land and other
immovable properties for roads, canals and other public purposes by paying the amount to be determined by
Arbitrators. The Act of 1870 provided for proper valuation of the acquired land. In case of a dispute on the
amount offered in lieu of acquisition, the Collector could make a reference to the Civil Court who were assisted
by the assessors. In case of disagreement between the Civil Court and assessors, then an appeal can be filed in
the High Court. The mechanism proved ineffective because a lot of time was consumed in litigation.” Division
Bench comprising S Sighvi and Asok Kumar Ganguly Radhey Shyam(D) Through LRs and others v. State of
U.P. and others Civil Appeal No. 3261 decided on April 15, 2011.
were restricted to compensation. This grievance towards the land acquisition let to
antagonism among the owners of the lands. The act of 1894 was amended in 1923 and a new
section, 5A was included. As per section 4(1) of the act a person with an interest in the land
within thirty days from the date of publication of notification can file his objection against the
acquisition also as per 5A (2) he will be given a chance to be heard by the collector. Audi
Alterem partem was included in this 1894 act which is the key principle of natural justice.

LAND ACQUISITION ACT 18943

This act was initiated by the British in order to facilitate the construction of roads, telegraph
and other communication lines, dams, bridges and a pathway for the movement of arms from
one country to another. The main objective was to expand their control over the entire nation.
So in this process the landowners in the rural area were deprived of their land. The
government remained the owners and controllers of these constructions for public purposes.
Post-independence the acquisition for the process of building various plants like the steel and
fertilizer plants by the government continued and slowly they got themselves involved in
housing, urban and industrial sectors. They started acquiring for the purposes like housing,
and industry development which comes under the ambit of public purpose.

Privatisation happened and the private sectors initiatives increased to a large extent. Private
sector took responsibilities discharged by the governments in exchange of a lot of incitements
from the government. The private sector as a result was a part of major housing, health,
media and educational operations. Currently we can witness the private sector flourishing to a
great extent because of the existence of these big companies. Land is the most important
element when it comes to public purpose projects. So now how does the private body get
hold with the land for the public purpose?

Part VII of the 1894 Act4 permits the companies to acquire a land for public purpose. The
state governments have acquired a lot of lands in the rural places from the landowners at a
very cheap rate. Later when the purposes of the land changed it was given to the private body
for building big complexes, industries etc. Now the private sector sold the finished property
to the public at a rate higher than that of the price of the land itself. The landowners were
fooled by the deceitful agreement of the government and private sectors.

There are so many cases seen where the land owners who are mostly farmers are guaranteed
with employment benefits in exchange of land. But they are left unemployed as they do not
have enough knowledge about anything other than agriculture. They are taken advantage of
in the name of land acquisition for public purpose and are not even benefitted with the market
price for their land. Even if they are provided with compensation, they are unemployed and
hence all the money they get is wasted and they turn into useless rogues from respected land
owners.

3
LAND ACQUISITION ACT 1894
DISADVANTAGES OF THE ACT OF 1894

The urgency clause of the 1894 act is the most attacked part of it. The obvious misapplication
of section 17 calls for a serious attention. This act is known as the draconian law as there can
be no injunction seeked by the landowner for his land being acquired. He can just raise an
objection against this under the section 5A which offers Audi alterem partem. There have
been cases where the government has taken undue advantage of section 17(4) of the urgency
clause for acquiring lands. The state government under this rule may say that sections
5A8may not apply. The acquisition of land under Section 4(1)8read with Section 17(1)8and
17(4) has generated solid litigation in the last 50 years. The SC in the case of Radhey Shyam
(D) through LRs and others v. State of U.P. and others5 held that section 5A is an statute
symbolising Audi alteram partem and the urgency clause under section 17(1) which should
not be invoked unless there is an emergency.

RESTORATION COMPENSATION AND FORCE ACQUISITION- Absence of any sort of

maintenance or compensation provision in the act causes a lot of dissatisfaction to the public.
The compensation given under this act is not even close to that of the actual market rate. The
government pays the landowners at its own market price for the land acquired by them which
is very less. Professor Ram Singh from the School of economics says that “Market value is
always hard to ascertain. Market rate is decided on the basis of ‘circle rates’ (the registry rate
or the stamp duty rate is the minimum rate decided by the government for valuation of land
for determining the tax imposed at the time of registration of sale deed of a property), or ‘
sale deeds’ of a similar property, whichever is higher. But people often under quote prices in
the sale deeds to avoid paying a high tax. As a result, the government only pays a certain
amount as compensation, which is well below the market price of the property.”6

There is force acquisition but in the absence of protection. It is at the desire of the
government if it wants to acquire a land and nobody can stop this. Only section 5A gives the
deprived person to file an objection, under 5A (2) he can appear in front of the collector and
is also given an opportunity to be heard. The collector makes a report based on the objections
presented and submits it to the concerned authority of the government. Looking into this,
under section 6 of the act, the government gives a notification stating the reason behind
acquiring the land is public purpose. After which the acquisition remains unchallenged. But
the owner has the right to challenge the compensation offered. The act makes the collector’s
award of compensation to be final as long as it is altered by a suit and the pronouncement is
made by a Civil Court.

Section 3 of the 194 act defines public purpose. Also Black’s Law Dictionary7 defines “ A
public purpose or public business has for its objective the promotion of public health, safety,
morals, general welfare, security, prosperity and contentment of all the inhabitants or
residents within a given political division, as, as, for example, a state, the sovereign powers of
which are exercised to promote such public purpose or public business.”

5
(2011) 5 SCC 553
6
“Landing in Trouble”, The Sunday Hindustan Times of India, New Delhi, March 01, 2015, p. 4.
7
The Black’s Law Dictionary, 5th Edition, 1979.
It was held by the Supreme Court in the state of Rajiv Saran v State of Uttarakhand8 that
“The incident of deprivation of property within the meaning of Article 300A of the
Constitution normally occurred mostly in the context of public purpose. Clearly, any law,
which deprives a person of his private property for private interest, will be amenable to
judicial review. In just sixty years, though the concept of public purposes has been given
quite interpretation, nevertheless, the “public purpose” remains the most important condition
in order to invoke Article 300A of the Constitution.”9

“Acquisition of private land for companies under the 1894 Act raises a question mark on the
desirability of such state intervention when the land could be arranged by the company
through private negotiations on a ‘willing seller willing buyer’ basis, which could be seen to
be a more fair arrangement from the point of view of the landowner.”10

Also finally it was held in the case of Ramji Veerji Patel and others v. Revenue Divisional
Officer11 that “The provisions contained in the Act, of late, have been felt by all concerned,
do not adequately protect the interest of the landowners/persons interested in the land. The
Act does not provide for rehabilitation of persons displaced from their land although by such
compulsory acquisition, their livelihood gets affected. For years, the acquired land remains
unused and unutilised. To say the least, the Act has become out-dated and needs to be
replaced at the earliest by fair, reasonable and rational enactment in tune with the
constitutional provisions, particularly, Article 300A of the Constitution. We expect the law-
making process for a comprehensive enactment with regard to acquisition of land being
completed without any unnecessary delay.”12

THE RIGHT TO FAIR COMPENSATION AND TRANSPARENCY IN LAND

ACQUISITION, REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENTACT,20I313

This Act receives a considerate, engaging, informed and straightforward procedure for land
securing for industrialization, development of basic infrastructural benefits and urbanization
with minimal unsettling influence to the owners of the land and other influenced families. It
makes arrangement for an equitable and reasonable remuneration, restoration and
resettlement for the influenced people. It further guarantees that the aggregate result of
mandatory procurement ought to be that the influenced people moved toward becoming
accomplices being developed prompting an improvement in their post obtaining social and
financial status and for issues associated thereto.

Section 2 of the act classifies land into three categories a) government acquiring land for its
own purpose or public purpose b) government acquiring land for PPPprojects, private
companies and for public purposes c) private companies acquiring land.

8
(2011) 8 SCC 708
9
Ibid
10
The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act,
2013, 2 (Universal Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi, 2013).
11
(2011) 10 SCC 643
12
Ibid
13
THE RIGHT TO FAIR COMPENSATION AND TRANSPARENCY IN LAND ACQUISITION,
REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENTACT,20I3
Section 2(1) defines public purpose as a project involving land acquisition for the purposes of
defence and national security for example the naval and military. Other things that come
under the public purpose are projects regarding infrastructure, housing for landless or income
less or low income earning groups, or for people whose shelters have been demolished during
a natural calamity etc.

CONSENT CLAUSE

At the point when government obtains the land specifically for 'public purpose' consent of the
owner isn't required. Be that as it may, when the administration procures the land for
privately owned businesses, the consent of at any rate 80% of the task influenced families
will be gotten through an earlier informed procedure. If there should arise an occurrence of
acquisition of land for public-private task then the consent of in any event 70% of the
influenced families ought to be taken.

EMERGENCY ACQUISITION

In situations like security and natural disaster the acquiring of land is quick.

LIMITS ON ACQUISITION

The act does not permit acquisition of land under multi cropped region. The demonstration
likewise orders that if there should be an occurrence of acquisition of multi cropped territory
under extraordinary conditions, an identical zone of cultivable no man's land will be created
by the state for horticultural purposes. The limit set by the authorities should not in the event
of acquisition of other farming area. These limit points will not have any significant bearing
to straight ventures which incorporate activities for railroads, roadways, electrical cables etc.

COMPENSATION

The compensation will be 4times higher than that of the value of the land in the market in the
rural areas. In the urban areas it will be twice the market value. The fixation of the market
price will be higher than the minimum land value, if any, as mentioned in the Indian Stamp
Act, 1899. Otherwise normal of the deal cost for comparable kind of land being acquired,
found out from the most elevated 50% of the deal deeds enlisted amid the first three years in
the closest region of the land being acquired.

AUTHORITY FOR LAND ACQUISITION, REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENT

AUTHORITY

The matters regarding land acquisition can be adjudicated as established by the state
governments with the powers of the civil court. He must either be a district judge or must
have practiced law for the past seven years.

SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

A social impact study and consultation with the Gram Sabha and municipality is the first tjing
to be done before acquiring the land. The purpose of the study is to make public aware of the
‘public purpose’, the people affected, extent of acquisition etc. The report is submitted to an
expert committee who after due consideration can also disapprove the project. But the
government can override the disapproval of the committee.

SC/ST PROVISION

The acquisition of the land will occur post the approval of the gram sabha and or the district
councils in the 5th schedule. The plan for development must be implemented before 5years to
maintain the living. One third of the compensation will be given first and the rest after the
projects are ended.

LAND LEFT UNUSED AFTER ACQUISITION

According to section 99 the land cannot be reused according to for a different purpose. If the
land is of no use after the notification of purpose is issued then the government can use the
land for its purpose. If the acquired land is not used for a span of 5 years from the date of
possession then it must be handed over to the land owner.

CONCLUSION

The farmers consider the lands as a precious part of their life as it is the only mode of their
income. The government also required land for the purpose of its development. The British
brought the 1894 Act which was in its own right a draconian, unjust, archaic legislation. This
legislation provided for compulsory acquisition of land without the consent of the
landowners, it only provided for compensation (determination of which was not satisfactory),
there was no provision for rehabilitation and resettlement of the displaced people. Finally, the
Government enacted the 2013 Act with provisions of just and fair compensation, resettlement
to the affected families. The effect of land acquisition on the affected families was to be
measured by a Social Impact assessment before resorting to land acquisition. It also provided
for the return of land to the owners if it was not used for a period of 5 years. The
determination of compensation was to be done under the method provided under the Act. But
there are certain flaws which if removed can make the Act more just and acceptable. The
need of the hour is that a balance should be created between the needs of the corporate sector
which requires land for their projects and the landowners and farmers. The Government
should arrange for ideas that will help in the development of the country which take place
only through industrialization and creation of more jobs. Agriculture and farming is a very
essential part of our economy which cannot be neglected for the sake of development. Both
the sectors should go hand in hand. Development is of course essential, but at what cost? Not
at the cost of our farmers who have been feeding us, at least. Food security and development,
both are the need of the hour today