The ministry document quoted information received from the two land owning agencies under it- Land and Development Office and DDA.
The land acquisition Act seems to be stirring a hornet's nest. While descendants of inhabitants of Lutyen's Delhi are fighting legal battles citing a provision in the Act that land acquisition proceedings are deemed to have lapsed if compensation was not paid, similar cases have come up across the country.
From parts of land acquired for creation of the Capital in British India to some new airports, complaints have reportedly come to the fore citing the UPA Act's Section 24, under which land acquisition proceedings are deemed to have lapsed where award has been made five years or more prior to the commencement of the 2013 Act and possession of land is not taken or compensation not paid, according to sources.
The matter has fallen on the radar of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) looking into the contentious land acquisition bill of the Modi government. The panel has written to all states seeking reports on cases concerning section 24 (2), which is a bone of contention between the government and opposition. It has also sought information from the home ministry on whether such complaints have come up in the land acquired for India-Bangladesh border fencing.
While all states have not sent the information to the panel, headed by BJP's SS Ahluwalia, the urban development ministry has conveyed that Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has informed that there are 606 pending court cases related to land acquisition proceedings initiated under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, the sources said. Further, 514 of the cases (16 in Supreme Court and 498 in High Court) where acquisition proceedings have been declared to have lapsed, have been decided.
The ministry document quoted information received from the two land owning agencies under it- Land and Development Office and DDA.
Committee sources said that there are reportedly cases concerning the land acquired for Calicut and Coimbatore airports, some railway projects and a former Bihar minister's bungalow, which was vacated.
Ahluwalia, according to sources met advocate Surat Singh, who is handling several cases filed by families from five of the 150 villages acquired for creating Lutyen's Delhi and other areas of the Capital in 1911. Citing section 24 (2) in the UPA's Act which came into effect on January one, 2014, these families are challenging the century old land acquisition saying it should be deemed illegal as they were not paid compensation.
However, according to Surat Singh the changes which were proposed by the Modi government did not weaken their case. Section 24 was amended in the Ordinance to exclude time spent under litigation where a stay order has been passed. The section is one of the three contentious issues between the Government and the Opposition.
"With awareness growing about this section, more cases are coming up," said Singh, who has been getting calls on such complaints from other places including from those whose land was acquired for the Diamond Park in Indore and villages of Rewari in Haryana.
Of the cases he is handling, is that of Sajjan and his brother Kadam, who lived in what was then Malcha village and have claimed that 155 bighas were acquired from them.
According to the urban development ministry's document, petitioners have claimed that share of compensation determined by the government has not been paid as per the record register dated December, 1912.
The amount due to their great great grandfather Shaadi then was Rs 2,217, 10 Anna and 11 paise.
Backlog of land cases :
All states have not sent the information to the panel, headed by BJP's SS Ahluwalia, the urban development ministry has conveyed that Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has informed that there are 606 pending court cases related to land acquisition proceedings initiated under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, the sources said. Further, 514 of the cases (16 in Supreme Court and 498 in High Court) where acquisition proceedings have been declared to have lapsed, have been decided.
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