Tag Archives: real estate laws

Latest Supreme Court Judgment on Land Acquisition 2022

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By examining the Ministry of Statistics and Planning’s September 2018 flash report, the top five states where cost overruns occurred as a result of postponed project completion have been identified. Maharashtra topped the list with a cost overrun of Rs 1.99 trillion, delaying the completion of 129 projects. It led to the introduction of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2022. 

The amendment Bill is currently pending in the Rajya Sabha after being approved by the Lok Sabha on March 10, 2022. The amendment Bill has been released for all the major infrastructure development projects undertaken by the central and Maharashtra government, including the one in Mumbai, to speed up project completion and prevent further delays brought on by time-consuming procedures, procedural errors, and natural disasters. 

Bill 2022 amending land acquisition

The collector is granted special authority under Section 40 of the Act to purchase land urgently as required for the defense of India, national security, any emergencies brought on by natural disasters, or any other emergencies with the consent of Parliament, by the government’s directives. 

Two new sections, Sections 40A and 40B, are added to the amendment bill for the development of all infrastructure projects carried out in Mumbai by the Maharashtra government. 

Section 40A provisions 

  • Despite there being no such award, the collector will nonetheless purchase this land. 
  • According to Section 21 of the aforementioned Act, the collector may take possession of the aforementioned land based on the counsel of the Single Window No Objection Certificate Approval Committee after 30 days have passed since the notice was published. The government will then have complete ownership of the land, free from any liens. 
  • The government shall not take possession of such property without first giving notice to the occupier of its intention to take possession for at least 30 days and not more than 45 days. 
  • The collector will offer to pay compensation for the land before taking possession, and if payment is put off, the person who is entitled must still get an extra 2% of compensation each month. 

Section 40B provisions 

  • The government must issue a notice for publication in the official gazette before appointing the Single Window No Objection Certificate Approval Committee in Mumbai’s Metropolitan City. Section 40B (2) of the amendment bill contains a list of the committee members.     
  • After the government requests and submits the pertinent documents, the committee must submit its recommendations within 30 days. The committee should, however, report to the parties involved in the extension the considerations that the committee must consider when recommending a No Objection Certificate under sub-Section 5 of Section 40B (6) of the Amendment Bill. 

 Effects of the Change

The amendment speeds up the Act’s current multi-stage and drawn-out process of land acquisition and infrastructure development. They will benefit from the amendment in the following days:

  • It will assist the government in acquiring land more quickly while preserving the rights of the displaced people and landowners from whom the government will be purchasing the land. 
  • The modification also creates a new committee that separates the various authorities and departments currently involved in the procedure from one another. Establishing a single committee with equal representation that has the power to grant or revoke government approvals could eliminate bias, hold local communities and the environment’s interests, and ensure a transparent process. 
  • Ensuring the fairness of the land acquisition procedure and offering just compensation to the affected parties and landowners. It could foster the smooth start and completion of the necessary and emergency projects in the state. 

It is essential to implement such changes to help streamline the land acquisition process and time-bound project completion, which will result in lower capital costs because of timely acquisitions. It will help the government meet its goals. The committee’s recommendations and the policy and acquisition procedure, ensure transparency and lowers the likelihood of land-related lawsuits. 

National Highway Land Acquisition Notification 2022

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This appeal is filed on behalf of the unsuccessful original petitioners to review the order issued by a Division Bench of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad on February 28, 2020, in WritC No. 7310 of 2020, by which the High Court rejected the appellants’ writ application, holding that the District Magistrate is competent to investigate the legality and validity of the order issued by the Special Land Acquisition Officer. 

ACTUAL MATRIX 

  • In using its authority under Section 3A(1) of Act 1956, the Central Government sent a notification on January 23, 2015, proposing to acquire a few parcels of land in the District of Mau to widen National Highway No. 29 to four lanes. The land with Gat Nos. 158, 160, and 161 of the village Ahirani Bujurg, District Mau (UP), was included in the notification. 
  • In the previous setting, a further notification was issued under Section 3D of Act 1956, declaring that specific property was for public use. Upon issuance of such a notification, the land becomes the property of the Central Government. 
  • The competent authority, the Special Land Acquisition Officer, determined the compensation to be paid to the landowners (parties before us) for the acquired land in an award dated November 28, 2016, passed under Section 3G of the Act 1956. The relevant portion of the competent authority’s award is as follows: 

Using the stamp rate of Rs. 4,50,00,000.00 as a basis, compensation for the land measuring 3.269 hectares in the village Ahirani Buzurg that was bought comes out to Rs. 14,71,05,000.00, double the amount of which happens to be Rs. 29,42,10,000.00, and compensation for the structure and tree comes out to Rs. 8,01,582.00, totaling Rs. 15,29,06,582.00. 

The value of 100% Solatium on this sum is Rs. 30,00,11,582.00.  Additional compensation of Rs. 3,16,66,953.00 is payable at a rate of 12% from the day of the last publication of Section 3A on March 6, 2015. 

As a result, the total compensation amount is Rs. 63,16,90,117.00, for which I declare the award. By recovering land acquisition expenses of Rs. 6,31,69,021.00 from the Acquiring Authority at a rate of 10% of the total amount of compensation and 100 times the registered values of less land revenue, the amount will be put in the prescribed Account head. 

As a result, a notice will arrive at the relevant Tehsil for entry proceedings. While sending one copy of the Award Order to the Indian National Highway Authority in Gorakhpur, it is necessary to write requesting that the entire amount covered by the Award in question be made available.”

The competent authority is required to determine the shares of the landowners in the compensation by the legislative scheme, Section 3H(3) of the Act 1956. In these cases, the competent authority requested a report from the revenue authorities. The revenue authorities reported the appellants’ and respondents’ shares in their report dated 11.04.2019. This report favored appellants. The relevant portion of the provided reads thus: 

Khasra No. 1353  mentions Gata No. 213, which has the present number of 232/51 minutes, Gata No. 213 B has the offer number 232/183, and Gata No. 213 is the current code of 232/519. Similarly, Gata No. 233 currently has 214/644 acres and is described as “Bagh Digar”. Furthermore, the present number of Gata No. 208 is 227/1.440 acres, in which “Bagh Digar” is mentioned.

The names of Mahadev Shahi, son of Sitaram Shahi and Bholanath, son of Ganga and Saryu, son of Brijrnohan, Caste Kandu, are found in Khata No. 46 of Copy of Khatauni for the crop year 1348, Ahirani  Buzurg, in which Gata No. 232 acres appear, and the name of Mahadev, son of Sitaram Shahi and Bholanath, son of Ganga and Saryu, son of Brijmohan, Caste Kanu, appears in respect of Gata No. 128 for the crop year 1348. Khata No. 92 mentions Gata No. 232/ 0.284 acres and the names of Mahadev, son of Sitaram Shahi, and Bholanath, son of Brij Mohan, Caste Kandu. It refers to Gatas 232/0.539 and 233/0.644, two Gatas totaling 1.163 acres, which is correct. 1348 is the crop year, also known as Jamman 12. 

The allocation was based on 12 equal shares in Gata No. 227/1.440 and an equal share of Salum in Gata Nos. 232 min./0.551, 232/0.183, 232/0.539, and 233/1.624. Because the road connects Hashiya Doharighat and Gazipur, the applicant owns a third of Gata Nos. 232 and 233.