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Land bill: Ball in the court of Joint Committee of Parliament, says Rural Development minister

He said that the Centre also wants to include the 13 central acts under the ambit of 2013 land law.

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He said that the Centre also wants to include the 13 central acts under the ambit of 2013 land law (File Photo)
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As Government weighs various options to wriggle out of the contentious land bill, Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh on Thursday insisted the prime consideration behind bringing an Ordinance on it was to bring land acquisition under 13 other excluded central acts under the ambit of 2013 land law.

Singh, however, evaded direct answers when asked whether the government will, for the sake "continuity" or otherwise promulgate land ordinance for the record fourth time when it expires on August 31. He said the government has to wait for recommendations of the Joint Committee of Parliament headed by BJP MP SS Ahluwalia in order to replace the Ordinance with a law passed by Parliament. "The bill has been sent to the Joint Committee of Parliament and the Joint Committee at the fag end of the Monsoon session sought extension of time in a third row till the next session of Parliament. We have to wait for their recommendations," he said when asked what the options before the government on land bill now when the panel is yet to submit a report and the Ordinance is expiring on August 31.

When asked whether the government will allow Ordinance to lapse, Chaudhary said,"that is to be seen. The ball is in the court of the Joint Committee. The entire thing is totally now in their court. Had the committee brought its report, we were ready to accept the recommendations. Prime Minister has already said it was not a matter or prestige for the government," he said. The minister's remarks come as the government is yet to announce its decision on land ordinance amid different views being expressed about its next move.

While there is a view that the government may not like to re-issue the ordinance for the fourth time and give further ammunition to Opposition to attack it on farmer front when elections are to be held in agrarian state Bihar soon. The other view is that in order to maintain continuity of the law, the ordinance, which had brought under the land acquisition process under 13 other so far excluded central laws, has to be re-promulgated. "It is beyond my understanding these thirteen acts were left out when 2013 land law was enacted. All these are central Acts and should have been brought under the ambit of the UPA land law then itself. Why it was not made applicable to them then. "The prime consideration behind our bringing the Ordinance was to ensure the compensation package of the land Act is also applicable to farmers, whose land is acquired under the 13 other central Acts and that their interest must be protected. From January 1st till now our efforts have been in that direction," Chaudhary said.

The government had brought the ordinance making changes in UPA's land law, removing consent and social impact assessment clauses from it and bringing land acquisition under 13 other central acts also under its ambit The provisions of the rehabilitation, resettlement and compensation provided in the land law will be applicable to the 13 existing Central pieces of legislation as long as they remain under the ambit of land law. If not done so, land could be acquired under these acts with no uniform central policy of rehabilitation and resettlement.

Sources said the RD Ministry directly approached the Attorney General a few days ago to seek his views on can, without re-issuing the ordinance, the clause on removal of difficulties may be used to include the 13 central acts, which were kept out of the ambit of the Land Acquisition Act 2013.

Sources said while is the AG is said to have said that it was possible, the Law Ministry has not found favour with it. Under the removal of difficulties clause, power is sometimes conferred on the government to modify the provisions of the existing statutes for the purpose of removing difficulties. When the legislative passes an act, it cannot foresee all the difficulties which may arise in implementing it. The executive is, therefore, empowered to make necessary changes to remove such difficulties.

A senior functionary in the rural development ministry also said that such an step of seeking to bringing change in a statute passed by Parliament by a government order may not sustain in a court of law if challenged and hence this option may not be "legally untenable". When asked repeatedly about the options before the government if it wanted to maintain continuity of Ordinance, the Rural Development Minister quipped "the state governments also have a role" but did not elaborate.

He further said that the states should also frame the rules, which they have not done so far due to which the acquisition of land has not taken off in a number of states. The minister's remarks came at a time when the government is weighing options to wriggle out of the contentious land ordinance and was toying with the idea of using clause to remove difficulty to bring 13 central acts under the ambit of land acquisition law without going in for a fresh executive order.  These acts include the Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act 1957, the National Highways Act 1956, Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act 1962, the Indian Tramways Act 1886, the Railways Act 1989, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958, the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act 1962 and the Damodar Valley Corporation Act 1948. The other ones include The Electricity Act 2003, Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act 1952, the Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act 1948 and the Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act 1978.

The Land Acquisition Act, 2013 had exempted 13 acts from its purview with the condition that they would be included under the purview of the act within one year. The NDA's ordinance brought these 13 acts under the new land law. 

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