Land Acquisition

The Government has to acquire land from time to time for large-scale infrastructure projects. The Land & Building Department which functions under the government of Delhi has to acquire land for submitting them to DDA so that it is available to carry out the developmental activities in Delhi. Four branches function under the Department, they are, Land Acquisition Branch, Alternative Plot branch, E.P. Cell and Housing Loan branch.

Functions

It is here that any proposal regarding land acquisition is processed that are received from various departments of the government and even DDA. The applications regarding the de-notification of land are also processed here.

 (A) Procedure for Acquisition of Land under the provision of Land Acquisition Act 1984

When a proposal for land acquisition is received, the first step is that it is sent to the Land Acquisition Collector of the said area. He has to provide the outline announcement that is notified as per the Land Acquisition Act 1984. It has to be done after a joint appraisal of the land is conducted.

The ADM/LAC calls upon several clauses as per the proposal received. These clauses are mainly from the L.A. Act, 1894 and the draft notification for the same are to be taken from 4 & 6 of the Act. The Revenue officials have to inspect the draft notification prepared by the ADM or LAC. They will also have to notify any errors in the document and has to be returned to the ADM for correction. The L.G has to approve the corrected draft and the following categories have to be followed.

1. Once the L.G. approves, the notification U/s 4 is issued which claims that the government wishes to acquire the said land
2. The landowners will have to file objection U/s 5-A within 30 days of the issue of the notification. The LAC takes care of such objections
3. Once LAC receives the above objections, they submit a report to the appropriate government, here it is LG. Soon after a declaration U/s 6 has to be issued for either one of the two cases, either for the land or for the report.  The declaration if not issued within a year of the notification, the latter will be no longer considered valid.
4. Within two years after the declaration, LAC will have to declare what it is called Award u/s 11 that falls under the L.A. Act. Once it is announced, the possession of land can be taken up. This is provided for under the L.A. Act under section 16.

 (B) Steps Involved in Acquisition of Land Invoking Urgency Clause

1. If a particular land is urgently needed to be acquired, then there is provision for an urgency clause. The notice U/s 4 along with 17(4), 6 & 17(1) is issued after the approval of LG. In such a case, objections from the landowners can be dispensed along with it.
Once the LG approves, the above mentioned notice is issued. As per Section 17 (4) the objections can be dispensed.
2. Once the notification U/s 4 is issued, a declaration under U/s 6 & 17(i) should be issued within one year. The department, whichever is in charge of requisition, has to deposit 80% of the compensation amount with L&B department which has to be done much before the issue of declaration U/s 6 & 17(i). This has to be done because the LAC has to offer this amount to the land owner when the land is taken over by the Department.
3. There are two procedures left with ADM/LAC. One is to issue a 15 days’ notice to the concerned persons, after the compensation amount is offered.
4. Further LAC concerned will have to announce the Award within 2 years from date of issuance of declaration U/s 6 & 17(i).

Religious Structures

The structures that can be denotified during land acquisition are religious structures or any school, hospital or charitable medical clinic. The religious structures receive the exemptions as a part of a clause under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.