Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (LAA).
The Land Acquisition Act of 1894 is a legal Act in India
Meaning of Land Acquisition:
“Land Acquisition” literally means acquiring of land for some public purpose by government/government agency, as authorised by the law, from the individual landowner/s after paying a government fixed compensation in lieu of losses incurred by land owner/s due to surrendering of his/their land to the concerned government agency.
Purpose of Land Acquisition Act, 1894
The land acquisition act of 1894 was created with the expressed purpose of facilitating the government’s acquisition of privately held land for public purposes. The word "public purpose", as defined in the act, refers to the acquisition of land for putting up educational institutions or schemes such as housing, health or slum clearance, apart from the projects for rural planning or formation of sites. The word "government" refers to the central government if the purpose for acquisition is for the union and for all other purposes it refers to the state government. It is not necessary that all the acquisition has to be initiated by the government alone. Local authorities, societies registered under the societies registration act, 1860 and co-operative societies established under the co-operative societies act can also acquire the land for developmental activities through the government.
Key Provisions: The key provisions of the act are as follows:
(i) Notification under Section 4(1): Whenever the Government requires land for a public purpose, it causes a notification under Section 4(1) in the official Gazette; and in two daily newspapers circulated in that locality of which at least one shall be in the regional language; and the Collector shall cause a public notice of the substance of such notification to be given at convenient places in the locality.
(ii) Hearing of objections under Section 5-A: Any person interested in the land notified under Section 4(1) may within 30 days from the date of the publication of the notification make his objections, if any, to the Collector in writing and shall be heard by the Collector. Section 5-A is mandatory and is a condition precedent for declaration under Section 6, unless superseded by emergency provision under Section 17.
(iii) Declaration of intended acquisition under Section 6: After considering the report made under 5-A(2) on the objections raised if any, a declaration shall be made to the effect that the particular land is needed for a public purpose.
The amendment by Act LXVIII of 1984 makes it obligatory for the State to publish the Section 6 declaration in two daily newspapers circulated in the locality of which one shall be in the regional language and to cause public notice of the substance of the declaration apart from the publication in the Gazette.
(iv) After declaration the Collector shall take order for acquisition under Section 7. The Collector then causes the land to be marked out, measured and planned under Section 8. The Collector then causes public notice under Section 9 to be given at convenient places on or near the land to be taken, stating the intention of the Government to take possession of the land, and that claims to compensation may be made.
(v) Enquiry and award by Collector under Section 11: The Collector shall enquire in to the objections, if any, into measurement, value and claims and shall make an award of:
- the true area of the land,
- the compensation which in his opinion should be allowed for the land, and
- the apportionment of the said compensation among all the persons known or believed to be interested in the land, of whom, or of whose claims, he has information, whether or not they have respectively appeared before him.
(vi) The Amendment Act LXVIII of 1984 introduced an important section, Section 11-A which prescribes two years time for the award to be passed after Section 6 declaration and if no award is made within this period, the entire proceedings for the acquisition of land shall lapse.
(vii) Special powers in cases of urgency under Section 17: In cases of urgency, whenever the Government so directs, the Collector, though no such award has been made, may, on the expiration of fifteen days from the publication of notice under Section 9(1), take possession of land for public purpose (only in case of change in channel of a river or unforeseen emergency for railway administration, library or educational institution, common building in a village, godown for any registered co-operative society, dwelling house for the poor, any irrigation tank, irrigation or drainage channel or any well, or any road).
However, amendment to Section 17 by Act LXVIII of 1984, was made to protect the interest of the landowners by directing deposit of eighty percent of the compensation as estimated by the Collector, before taking possession.
(viii) Section 18 deals with reference to the court by the Collector on written submission made by the land owner who does not accept the award made by the Collector and require that the matter be referred to the court.
(ix) Matters considered in determining the compensation under Section 23: The following will be taken into account while determining the compensation:
- Market value of land on the date of 4(1) notification.
- Damage to crops or trees.
- Damage sustained due to severance of land.
- Damage sustained by other property on account of acquisition.
- Incidental expenses for relocation.
- Section 23(1-A) provides for twelve percent per annum on market value from the date of 4(1) notification to date of award or the date of taking possession of the land*, whichever is earlier.
- Section 23(2) provides for thirty percent solatium on the market value of the land, in consideration of the compulsory nature of the acquisition.
(x) Section 24 provides for matters which are neglected in determining compensation;
(xi) Under section 25 the LA Act stipulates that the compensation amount fixed by the court should not be less than the compensation awarded by the District Collector under Section 11.
(xii) Section 28 empowers the court to order the District Collector to pay interest at 9% on the amount awarded by the court in excess of the compensation granted by the Collector and if the excess amount is paid into Court after 1 year from the date of taking possession, an interest at 15% per annum shall be payable.
(xiii) Section 28-A provides an opportunity to those who have not made an application to the Collector under Section 18 of LAA, to seek re-determination of the compensation amount. To avail the benefit of re-determining compensation a written application should be made within 3 months** from the date of award of the Court.
(xiv) Section 34 addresses delayed payments, and provide for an additional 9 percent per annum for the first year and 15 percent for subsequent years, if the compensation is not paid or deposited on or before taking possession of land (Section 9).
*The Supreme Court has ruled that 12 percent interest shall come into effect only from the date of 4(1) and not before
**Application for re-determination of compensation filed after the expiry of three months is barred by limitation [1997 (6) SCC 59].
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