A flexible land acquisition process

A flexible land acquisition process

The Tami Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act works differently from the Land Acquisition Act. It has expedited the process and helped fix flexible rates for compensation, writes C.H.Gopinatha Rao

In the recent past, the government has been acquiring lands for various projects ranging from road widening, SEZ and industrial purposes.

It is a usual practice to evoke the land acquisition Act (1864) for this purpose.

However, the recent land acquisitions by the Government of Tamil Nadu saw a departure. Land for Chennai Airport expansion project was acquired evoking the Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act. (known as Tamil Nadu Acquisition Act, in force from September 21, 2001 ) and not the Land Acquisition Act.

This shift was done in order to speed up acquisition. Did the government achieve its objectives? Were the people whose lands were acquired adequately compensated?

Widely defined

As per Section 2(e) of the Tamil Nadu Acquisition Act, ’industrial purpose’ includes the starting of a new industry, expansion of an existing industry, development of an industrial area and establishment and management of an industrial estate. The word, industrial purposes, is so widely defined that the court took the view that land acquisition for airport can be made under this Act.

The Tamil Nadu Acquisition Act overrides the provisions of the original Land Acquisition Act and the detailed procedure usually adopted need not be followed.

The State Government has to now issue a notification under Section 3 proposing to acquire land, followed by a notice under Section 4(1) to show cause why the land should not be acquired. The owner of the land can then make his/her objection and if the Government is not satisfied with the objection, a notification under Section 3(1) can be issued. After which the land will vest with the Government. Section 7 of the Act provides for payment of compensation based on the principles laid down under the Land Acquisition Act.

Advantage

Another advantage is that in the case of Land Acquisition Act, failure to make an award within two years of the declaration will let acquisition proceedings lapse.

But in the case of Tamil Nadu Acquisition Act, the compensation need not be paid before the land vests with the Government and there is no time limit for passing the award.

If the compensation is low, reference can be made to the Sub-Court and no Second Appeal is available. The interest payable on compensation under this Act is lower than the interest payable under the Land Acquisition Act and no solatium need to be paid.

Revenue officials say that the Act allowed them, in the case of Oragadum, to work out a flexible rate, expedite the process and facilitate better interaction with the land owners.

The Collector was guided by the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act. The Guideline value, the last land transaction amount received at the sub-registrar’s office and the market value of lands to be acquired were taken into consideration and fair value of the land was arrived at. This also allowed for arriving at differential rates fixed depending on various factors that influence the value of land.

Paid dividends
In Oragadum this approach has paid dividends and 50 owners voluntarily surrendered the land and received the compensation.

However, in the case of Chennai Airport expansion project there are reports that some of the residents feel that the compensation value is less than the fair market value.

What is important is that the process of determining the fair value of the land under acquisition must be professionally and thoroughly done. It should be transparent and the method of arriving at the value must be shared with the land owners. If the comparative method was used then the basis for comparison must be made public.

If the value was fixed through values obtained through recent transaction, then the detailed information of such transaction must be made known.

Adequate and fair compensation would only speed up the auction process and gain peoples’ acceptance.

The author is past National President, Institution of Valuers.

http://www.hindu.com/pp/2008/11/01/stories/2008110150010100.htm