Recent protests against the acquisition of land by some states and the move to return land to its owners in Singur, West Bengal, have brought the inadequacies of the current land acquisition laws into the limelight.
The legal framework
The Land Acquisition Act, 1894, is a central legislation enacted with the object of amending the law on acquisitions for public purposes and for determining the compensation payable to land owners. While the act, which is based on the doctrine of eminent domain, defines public purpose, the connotations attributed to the term have undergone drastic changes over the last century.
A principal problem with the act is that it does not provide for the return of acquired land to the original owners, if the purpose for which the acquisition was carried out ceases to exist or the project for which acquisition was required is abandoned or its scope changes. By virtue of section 16 of the act read with section 48, the acquired land vests absolutely in the government free from all encumbrances and it can only withdraw from the acquisition if possession of land has not yet been taken.
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Deepti Mohan is a partner at Vidhii Partners and can be reached at deepti.mohan@vidhiipartners.com.
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