The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 is the general law relating to acquisition of land for public purposes and companies and for determining the amount of compensation to be made on account of such acquisition. Land acquisition and involuntary displacement continue to result in great distress and resistance and often violence in many parts of the country. The recommendations of the National Advisory Council aim to make the land acquisition process more just and humane. It is now proposed to have a unified legislation dealing with acquisition of land, providing just and fair compensation, and making adequate provisions for the rehabilitation and resettlement mechanism of affected persons and their families. This paper focuses on land acquisition with special reference to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013, passed by the Parliament, and grant of compensation after acquiring the land as decided by the Supreme Court of India.

Land is a free and precious gift of Nature. It generates and regulates atmosphere congenial for the birth, growth and death of humans and other living beings. It is not only the provider of all source of life and livelihood for all the living beings, but also a measuring object for the progress and prosperity of earthly living in perpetuity. The history of mankind is almost interlinked with the history of land. In ancient times, it was a universally recognized principle that all land belonged to the King, and the King was considered to be the living God on the earth, representing the invisible God. Even today this principle holds good for the field, notwithstanding the fact that the Kingly rule is substituted by the rule of the state/government, representing the people in majority. This power of the king/state/government is termed as the power of ‘Eminent Domain’, by exercising which the king/state/government can acquire, hold and dispose the land owned or possessed by the individual inhabitants in a given territory. The first milestone in civilized human living began with the use of land for agricultural purposes. The rights of ownership were vested in the person who actually occupied and cultivated the land for agricultural or other purposes. When the system of ruling and the ruled came into force, all the rights in land were deemed to be vested initially in the king and the king in turn vested the same on the user of the land, free of cost or for some return payable to the king or his intermediaries, such as zamindars, jagirdars, inamdars, etc., by the occupier of such land, subject to the overall control by the king.

Law Review Journal, Protection, Land Acquisition, National Advisory Council, Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency, Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, Resettlement Bill, Eminent Domain.