Land acquisition must proceed orderly from private individuals
n Supreme Court clarification
The Supreme Court has made it clear that governments and government departments have to follow proper procedures when it comes to acquisition of property such as land from private individuals and illegal acquisitions are against the rules. It held that even if the compensation was paid in respect of the land, the acquisition process should be done as per the rules. In this regard, a bench consisting of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Aravind Kumar issued a judgment upholding the decision of the Kolkata High Court.
A man’s land was acquired by the local municipal corporation for construction of a park in Kolkata. He was also compensated for this. However, the man who did not want to hand over the land approached the Kolkata High Court. The court heard the arguments and ruled that the acquisition of the land was invalid. This was challenged by the Municipal Corporation in the Supreme Court. After hearing the arguments, the Supreme Court upheld the verdict of the Kolkata High Court. In this case, the acquisition of land was done against the rules, it said. Even though the compensation was paid, the procedures to be followed in land acquisition were not followed.
It said that although the right to property of individuals has been removed from the list of fundamental rights, the Constitution provides adequate protection to them. The government should be involved in informing about these matters beforehand, providing adequate time, accepting objections, rectifying them, facilitating resettlement, and explaining that the land acquisition is for public welfare. However, the court observed that none of this was happening here. Clarifying that the law does not allow anyone to suffer through compulsory acquisitions, hasty decisions and unfair compensation, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation dismissed the petition.
