1

Ms.Swapnil Kumar, Executive Student (2008-09),IMT Ghaziabad

 Legal Aspects of Land Acquisition
 Facts
 Critical Analysis

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Legal Aspects of
Land Acquisition

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 Land
Acquirer’s
Legal Aid
National
Land +
Rehabilitation
Acquisition
and
Act ,1894 &
Resettlement
Amendments
Policy

SEZ Act

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 In this era of globalization,
globalization most developing countries are
witnessing a shift away from an import substitution based
development strategy to an export promotion policy
 SEZ : geographical region that has economic laws more
liberal than a country's typical economic laws.
 By offering privileged terms,
terms SEZ attract investment and
foreign exchange,
exchange spur employment and boost the
development of improved technologies and infrastructure.
infrastructure
 Multiple benefits to an economy in terms of
 creating jobs;augmenting exports
 building infrastructure of international standards and
inviting huge foreign investments
 learning effects, Human Capital Development effect,
demonstration effect, Technological & Knowledge
transfers and so on.

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 Introduced under Foreign Trade Policy for 2004-2009
 Act defines SEZ as area of land which is owned & operated
by private companies & is outside the purview of several
laws of the land
 Minimum Wages Act;Panchayat system (SEZs have their
own governing bodies)
 Revenue duties:
duties sales tax, income tax, service tax, etc.)
 Intrastate offering exemptions
 Duty free enclave to be treated as foreign territory only for
trade operations and duties and tariffs.
 No license is required for import and no routine
examination is to be conducted by the custom authorities
of the export/import cargo.
 To aid backward and forward integration of the economy,
the Act provides exemptions to SEZ units and SEZ
developers from all indirect taxes, including basic customs
duty, education cess, and direct taxes while at the same
time domestic sales are subject to full customs duty and 6

import policy in force.

 SEZs are being established in an attempt to deal with
 infrastructural deficiencies, procedural complexities,
bureaucratic hassles and barriers raised by monetary,
trade, fiscal, taxation, tariff and labour policies.
 Since country-wide development of the infrastructure is
expensive and implementation of structural reforms would
require time, ( Special Economic Zones/Export Processing
Zones) are being established as industrial enclaves for
expediting the process of industrialization.
industrialization
 One of earliest and most famous SEZ founded by the
government of the People's Republic of China under Deng
Xiaoping in the early 1980s.
 Government of India in April 2000 announced the
introduction of Special Economic Zones policy in the
country.
 As of 2007, more than 500 Special Economic Zones have
been proposed,
proposed 220 of which have already been created.

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 Exploitation of the Real Estate
Why is there such an interest among private developers,
especially property developers, to rush into the area of SEZ
development?
 Section 5(2) of the SEZ Act, addresses the issue of land
acquisition. It provides for non-industrial use of 75% of the
land in the possession of an SEZ developer.
 This is justified by the argument that social
infrastructure, which would constitute things like
housing facilities and entertainment, is extremely
critical. This means that many real estate companies
who have no track record in manufacturing or exports
have become SEZ promoters.
 More SEZs mean More Land Acquisitions

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 Difficulties that come in the process of Land Acquisition in
India are immense, given the population density and the
type of land use in the country.
 This is evident from the fact that the fundamental issue in a
number of top stories in the past few years has been the
Process of Land Acquisition; be it Narmada Bachao Andolan
or the recent Nandigram issue.

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 Twin objectives :
 to amend the laws relating to land acquisition for public
purpose and for companies
 to determine the compensation, which is required to be
made in cases of land acquisition
 Colonial Origin : Enacted by the British government and
by virtue of The Indian independence (Adaptation of
Central Acts and Ordinances) Order, 1948 continues to
exist as the law of land acquisition in India.
 Land in Concurrent List :Given the fact that Land
Acquisition falls under the concurrent list both the State
Government and the Central Government have amended
the law, evolving it with time and according to the local
needs.
 Govt’s word is final :Land can be acquired either by the
state or the central government for the purposes listed
under state and central list respectively unless the central
government delegates the task to the state government
under article 258(1) of the Constitution.
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 Intention :To legalise the taking up, for public purposes, or
for a company, of land which is private property of
individuals the owners and occupiers, and pay equitable
compensation therefore calculated at market value of land
acquired, plus an additional sum on account of compulsory
character of acquisition .
 sections 1 to 3 : short title, object and reasons and the
important definitions.
 Sections 4 to 17 deals with the process of acquisition.
 sections 18 to 28 which describes the reference to court
and procedure thereupon in the off chance of a conflict
with respect to compensation.
 Sections 29 and 30 deal with Apportionment in case of
more than one individuals interested
 section 31 to 34 lay down the payment of compensation.
 Sections 35 to 38 deal with temporary acquisition of land
 sections 38 to 44 deal with the acquisition of land for
companies.

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 Public Purpose
 Article 31(2) categorically states that a land can be
acquired by the state only for Public Purpose.
 general interest of the community, work from which
public in general would derive benefit or be benefited.
 public purpose is determining factor on the question
wether or not a particular land should be acquired, and
the considerations of hardships to the individuals
cannot outweigh the question of public demand .
 Section 3(f) of The Land Acquisition Act delineates
various possible types of public purpose; Not exhaustive
 Wide meaning to encompass any kind of benefit for
public in general
 Legal maxim :salus propuli est suprema lex, meaning
welfare of the people is paramount in law
 underlining principle of Land Acquisition, Power of
Eminent Domain or the Law of Compulsory Acquisition
whatever it may be called

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 Originally the Constitution of India consisted of provisions
under Article 19(f) and Article 31 which constituted Right
to Property.
 Right to property, Articles 14, Articles 19 and Article 31
read in tandem by the Courts proved to be anti
developmental, as the courts struck down various acts of
the state.
 In a number of cases the courts declared the reforms
initiated by the state as being ultra vires, which hampered
the development by means of growth of infrastructure
which was essential for development soon after the
independence.
 Led to the the Constitution (First) Amendment Act, 1951
was enacted and the Right to Property was done away
with.
 Article 31(A) which was enacted categorically states that
no law which provides for acquisition by the state of an
estate can be held void as being ultra vires Article 14 or
Article 19. It also provided for payment of compensation at
a rate not less than market value of the property
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 Land Acquisition Officer : proceedings are carried on by an
officer appointed by the government known
 Notification
When a government intends to occupy a land in any locality
is has to issue a notification under Section 4 in the official
gazette, newspaper and give a public notice which entitles
anyone on behalf of the government to enter the land for
the purposes of digging, taking level, set out boundaries
etc.
 Govt Word is Final :Under Section 5(a) any person
interested in land which is notified under section 4 (who is
entitled to claim an interest in compensation) can raise an
objection, in writing and in person. The collector after
making inquiry to such objections has to forward the report
to the government whose decision in this respect would be
final.
 After considering such report made by the collector under
section 5(a) the government may issue a declaration within
one year of the notification under section 4 to acquire land
for public purposes or company, this declaration is a
mandatory requirement of the acquisition. 14
 After the declaration under Section 6, collector has to take
order from the appropriate government weather state or
central for the acquisition of land under section 7.
 An important process that takes place under this section
is demarcation which consists of marking out
boundaries of land to be acquired, either by cutting
trenches or fixing marks as posts.
 Object is to facilitate measurement and preparation of
acquisition plan, but also let the private persons know what
land is being taken. Obstruction under Section 8 and
Section 4 are offence punishable with an imprisonment not
exceeding one year and with fine not exceeding fifty
rupees.
 Section 9 requires the collector to cause a public notice at
convenient places expressing government’s intention to
take possession of the land and requiring all persons
interested in the land to appear before him personally and
make claims for compensation before him.

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 The Final set of collector’s proceedings
 an enquiry by the collector into the objections made by
the interested persons regarding the proceedings under
section 8 and 9 and making an award to persons
claiming compensation as to the value of land on the
date of notification under section 4.
 The enquiry involves hearing parties who appear with
respect to the notices, investigate their claims,
claims consider
the objections and take all the information necessary for
ascertain the value of the land, and such an enquiry can
be adjourned from time to time as the collector thinks
fit and award is to be made at the end of the enquiry.
 The award made must be under the following three
heads:
• Correct area of land
• Amount of compensation he thinks should be given
• Apportionment of compensation

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 Section 11 makes it obligatory on the part of the collector
to safeguard the interests of all persons interested,
interested even
though they might not have appeared before him.him
 In awarding compensation the Land Acquisition Collector
should look into estimate value of land, give due
considerations to the other specific factors. Value of the
property in the neighborhood can be used as a criteria . The
award should be made within 2 years .

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 Prior to 1984, the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 was not
applicable to the States of Jammu and Kashmir and
Rajasthan, Kerala and Nagaland which had their own self-
contained Land Acquisition Acts
 It made the Land Acquisition Act,1894 applicable to the
whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir which enjoys a
special position under the Constitution and still continues
to be governed by the States (Jammu and Kashmir) Land
Acquisition Act, 1990 (1930 A.D.)

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 Replaces Earlier National Policy on Resettlement &
Rehabilitation for Project-Affected Families 2003.
 a “just and humane” rehabilitation policy for those
involuntarily displaced by development projects, including
Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
 Benefits under the new policy would be available to all
affected persons and their families whose land, property or
livelihood had been adversely affected by land acquisition
or by involuntary displacement of a permanent nature for
any other reason, such as a natural calamity; &policy would
be applicable to all these cases, irrespective of their
number.
 The stated intention of “backing policy with law” is
praiseworthy
 lays down the principle of ‘minimising displacement’

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20
Facts

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22
 Tata’s dream —Roll out Rs 1-lakh car
 Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s vision of an industrialised state
 Marginal Farmers of Singur- Rehabilitation and
Resettlement
 Industry, Government and Agriculture come at crossroads
 Ensuing Turmoil feeds political agitations spearheaded by
Mamta Bannerjee adding fuel to fire

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 CPI wins election for the
seventh consecutive time
in 2006
 CM Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee Has a vision
to industrialize the state
and create jobs for youth
 Wants to take all possible
steps to help industrialists’
entry into the state
 Ratan Tata promises the
nation a 1 Lakh car for the
common man
 Accepts a lucrative
proposal by WB Govt to set
up plant in WB which will
significantly help lower its
cost of production and help
make car at lower cost
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 In Hooghly district, 45 kilometers from Kolkata
 Fertile Farmlands
 According to a govt. Statistical Handbook on Singur
block, 83%of the land is irrigated and the crop density
is 220%.
 Landholdings in Singur are small with very few owners
having more than 2 bighas (0.66 acres).
 More than 11,000 land holdings.
 Of a total of 6,000 families that will be affected, about 3500
farming households work on their own fields and can be
called poor or subsistence farmers.
 According to them there are about 1200 unregistered
sharecropping Bargadars.
 A large number of migrant workforces.
 Majority of non-farming households in Singur are employed
in agriculture-related occupations.

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 May 18, 2006 { Business day 1}
 Announcement of Singur Development by West Bengal
Chief Minister - Tata Joint Press Conference in Kolkata.
 Ratan Tata announces roll out of Rs. 1 lakh car in 2
years time frame and decides to locate the project at
Singur in Hooghly district.
 The project was to be spread over 700 acres with
another 300 kept aside for ancillary production; will
create 10,000 direct and indirect jobs.
 Statements: “Bengal is the most investor-friendly state
in the country. Someone had to turn that belief into
reality. The investment is a reflection that the Tata
group has faith in the investment climate and the
government of Bengal,”

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 Jun 19th – 24th :Ignoring the people's voice the
Government issued 13 notices under Section 9 (1) of the
Land Acquisition Act of 1894 to the affected farmers.
 The only official document publicly available on the project,
the Gazette notification under sec 4(1) of the Land
Acquisition Act 1894 between 19th and 24th July states
that :-
 “land as mentioned in the schedule below is likely to be
needed to be taken by the Govt/Govt undertakings/
Development Authorities, at the public expense for a
public purpose viz., employment generation and the
socio economic development of the area by setting up a
Tata Small Car project”.

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 July 27’2006: State Government sets 6 month deadline to
acquire land.
 August 28’2006: Land acquisition in Singur is challenged in
the Kolkata High Court
 September 25, 2006: The first lot of compensation cheques
begin to be handed out from the Singur Block Development
Office. About 10,000 people protest against land
acquisition while about 256 of the 354 people to be
awarded compensation got their cheques.
 September 26, 2006: Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure
Code imposed in Singur making it illegal for five or more
persons to assemble together
 30 November’2006: State wide violence began once section
144 clamped on the area for one month was subsequently
extended for indefinite period
 4 December’2006:The WB government claimed that 920
acres of land has been voluntarily handed over by the
landowners and compensation has been accepted for 658
acres of land.The Singur agitation intensified today with
Miss Mamata Banerjee going on an indefinite hunger-strike.
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 22 January’07: 1000-member security squad was engaged
for guarding Tata Motors plant site at Singur in the wake of
protest during “bhoomi pujan” on 21st January.
 24 January’07: Intellectuals, academicians and students
today joined the protests against the state government’s
policy of land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram with a
sit-in demonstration at Esplanade.

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 14 February’07: Hon’ble
High Court at Calcutta
 quashed the prohibitory
order issued under
Section 144 CrPC at
Singur on 4 February
 observed that it was an
abuse of power and an
act of executive
highhandedness
unreasonably
restricting the
petitioners’ right
guaranteed by the
Constitution.

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 23 February’07: Acting
Chief Justice Bhaskar
Bhattacharya asked the
government to file an
affidavit within April 13
furnishing all the details
justifying the legality of
the acquisition.
 Questioning whether land
acquisition can be done at
a place simultaneously
under two different
sections of Land
Acquisition Act 1894, the
bench directed the
government to state the
total number of farmers
who had received the
compensation from the
government.
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 9 March’07: Tata Motors
finally got possession of
land for its small-car
factory in Singur on today.
The state government
today signed an agreement
with Tata Motors for the
controversial small-car
factory at Singur, leasing
out 949.5 acres of land to
the company for 90 years.

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 27 March’07: In a significant development, the West Bengal
government admitted that its advocate general made an
"erroneous submission" to the Calcutta High Court on the
compensation for farmers whose land was acquired for the
Tata Motors' car plant in Singur.
 Retracting its earlier submission that land had been
acquired and awards passed for compensation for the
project under two sections of the Land Acquisition Act of
1894,the state government said in an affidavit that all
awards were passed under one section of the act and there
was no question as such of violating any law.
 States that only 30% of the landowners of Singur who own
287.5 acres of land had given consent in writing (That
means, around 21 65% who have even collected cheques
still against this forcible land acquisition).

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 7 June’07: The state government has admitted before
Calcutta High Court that it has not been able to reach an
agreement with farmers over the acquisition of around 300
acres of land in Singur.
 The government, in an affidavit, has stated that till April
25,2007, Rs 90.35 crore has been disbursed to 10,021
people for 671 acres.
 The state has so far acquired 997.11 acres for the Tata
small car project. It had allotted a total of Rs 118.95 crore
to pay the rayats (as compensation) and Rs 0.58 crore for
the bargadars.
 The affidavit, however, does not make it clear whether
landowners yet to accept the award are not satisfied with
the compensation or do not wish to part with their land. It
only mentions that of the 3,124 persons who opted for
agreements under Section 11(2) of the Land Acquisition
Act,only 2,414 have agreed to hand over their 287.52 acres
and accept the compensation fixed by the collector.

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 10 Jan,2008: Ratan Tata
unveiled the Nano in
Delhi's Pragati Maidan.
 The West Bengal
government (state
Industry Minister Nirupam
Sen) today expressed
happiness over Tata
Motors unveiling its much-
awaited people's car
'Nano', and said the Singur
project, where it would be
manufactured, will be
completed in time.
 Minister said Nano was a
pride for the state.
 "Many people had
doubts about the car.
The car, as promised, is
priced at Rs 1 lakh, and
it's a matter of pride 35
that it'll roll out from
Singur.
 18 January,2008: In a
major boost to the
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
government, Calcutta High
Court today put its seal on
the state's land acquisition
in Singur, paving way for
Tata Motors' Nano to roll
out from there.
 A division bench
comprising Hon’ble Chief
Justice S S Nijjar and
Justice Pinaki Chandra
Ghosh dismissed all the 11
petitions against land
acquisition in Singur.
 The bench observed there
was no malafide intention
on the part of the state in
acquiring land there
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 July 3, 2008: About 500
people who had been hired by
Tata Motors were not paid for
several months and were
released for work. A large no.
of them being CPI(M)
supporters, the CPI(M) joins
the protest to secure
permanent employment for
them & see to it that the
salaries due are paid.
 August 22, 2008: Ratan
Tata says that the Nano
project may be moved outside
Singur if disturbances
continue
 Oct 3,2008 :Tata has closed
shop at Singur;Worried about
safety of Managers & their 37
families at Singur
Critical Analysis

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 Fair Antiquated Land
Compensation Laws

Disgruntled
Farmers

Political Will
Government as
Intermediary

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 Though not officially been notified as an SEZ by the
government, the Tata Motors area has been functioning as
an SEZ.
 Whereas in China, the SEZs were built on wastelands, in
India and especially in West Bengal, rich farmland like
those in Singur and Nandigram have been targeted.


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 Small farmers: 635 acres owned by 9020 farmers
 Three groups support land transfer:
 Absentee landowners
 Registered share-croppers
 Those losing a part of their land
 Three groups oppose land transfer:
 Unregistered share-croppers
 Daily wage earners associated

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 Allegations about
 use of state machinery to evict farmers
 Attack on peaceful protesters

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 Hailed as Trade secret
 Enormous One-sidedness -:Every concrete detail in the
agreement refers to what the West Bengal government will
do for TML; there is no mention of what TML will do in
return

 West Bengal government decided to offer everything in it’s

power to return that favor. The favors offered to TML come
in four concrete forms: (a) subsidized land for setting up
the manufacturing plant, (b) loans in the form of tax
holidays, (c) soft loans to get started, and (d) subsidized
electricity.

 Can be read as the state government’s eagerness to “take

appropriate steps for rapid industrialization in West
Bengal”.

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 Dec 6 ,2007 : Amendment bill on land acquisition act put up
in Lok Sabha; seeking
 to suitably define the phrase “public purpose”. This
move to complement NPRR policy with legislation is
commendable.
 Though the attempt at redefining “public purpose”
actually favours private interest and big companies over
the poor and marginalised who, under the principle of
“greater good” are still asked to bear the cost of
development.
 To enhance compensation for the land. The bill is
targeted to ensuring that a fair compensation at market
value be provided to those whose site is acquired.
 provides for timely dispute resolution and stops any
misuse of acquired land.

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 Replaces Earlier National Policy on Resettlement &
Rehabilitation for Project-Affected Families 2003.
 a “just and humane” rehabilitation policy for those
involuntarily displaced by development projects, including
Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
 Benefits under the new policy would be available to all
affected persons and their families whose land, property or
livelihood had been adversely affected by land acquisition
or by involuntary displacement of a permanent nature for
any other reason, such as a natural calamity; &policy would
be applicable to all these cases, irrespective of their
number.
 The stated intention of “backing policy with law” is
praiseworthy
 lays down the principle of ‘minimising displacement’

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 The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 provides for
 Benefits and compensation to people displaced by land
acquisition.
 Creates project-specific, state and national authorities
to formulate, implement, and monitor the rehabilitation
and resettlement process.
 Mandates government to conduct a social impact
assessment for any large scale displacement. It also
mandates to shall appoint an Administrator for
Rehabilitation, Resettlement and monitoring.
 Outlines minimum benefits for displaced families and
the criteria for eligibility. Benefits may include land,
house, monetary compensation, skills training and
preference for jobs.
 Establishes the post of Ombudsman to address any
grievances from the rehabilitation and resettlement
process. Civil courts are barred from entertaining any
suits related to this matte

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 Although the 2007 National Policy for Rehabilitation and
Resettlement lays down the principle of ‘minimising
displacement’ there have been no visible attempts to implement
it. The policy fails to examine the process of displacement, which
is taken for granted.
 The draft makes no attempt to question the need for displacement
in the first place, or to seek out and actively promote non-
displacing or least-displacing alternatives
 Land Acquisition Act by suitably defining the phrase “public
purpose”. This move to complement policy with legislation is
commendable.
 But the attempt at redefining “public purpose” actually favours
private interest
 now simpler for corporates as, along with land required for
strategic and public infrastructure projects, provided it is “useful
for general public” This determination, however, is limited to
those cases where the developers of SEZs/industrial projects have
already purchased 70% of the land, and allows the state to buy
the remaining 30% to give the developers “crucial contiguity”.
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