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THE RIGHT TO FAIR COMPENSATION AND TRANSPARENCY IN LAND ACQUISITION, REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENT ACT, 2013
No. 30 of 2013
[26th September, 2013.]
An Act to ensure, in consultation with institutions of local self-government and Gram Sabhas established under the Constitution, a humane, participative, informed and transparent process for land acquisition for industrialisation, development of essential infrastructural facilities and urbanisation with the least disturbance to the owners of the land and other affected families and provide just and fair compensation to the affected families whose land has been acquired or proposed to be acquired or are affected by such acquisition and make adequate provisions for such affected persons for their rehabilitation and resettlement and for ensuring that the cumulative outcome of compulsory acquisition should be that affected persons become partners in development leading to an improvement in their post acquisition social and economic status and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-fourth Year of the Republic of India as follows:—
CHAPTER II
Preliminary
1. Short title, extent and commencement.
(1) This Act may be called the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
(2)�It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
(3)�It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint:
Provided that the Central Government shall appoint such date within three months from the date on-which the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013 receives the assent of the President.
2. Application of Act.
(1) The provisions of this Act relating to land acquisition, compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement, shall apply, when the appropriate Government acquires land for its own use, hold and control, including for Public Sector Undertakings and for public purpose, and shall include the following purposes, namely:—
(a)�for strategic purposes relating to naval, military, air force, and armed forces of the Union, including central paramilitary forces or any work vital to national security or defence of India or State police, safety of the people; or
(b)�for infrastructure projects, which includes the following, namely:—
(i) all activities or items listed in the notification of the Government of India in the Department of Economic Affairs (Infrastructure Section) number 13/6/2009-INF, dated the 27th March, 2012, excluding private hospitals, private educational institutions and private hotels;
(ii) projects involving agro-processing, supply of inputs to agriculture, warehousing, cold storage facilities, marketing infrastructure for agriculture and allied activities such as dairy, fisheries, and meat processing, set up or owned by the appropriate Government or by a farmers' cooperative or by an institution set up under a statute;
(iii) project for industrial corridors or mining activities, national investment and manufacturing zones, as designated in the National Manufacturing Policy;
(iv) project for water harvesting and water conservation structures, sanitation;
(v) project for Government administered, Government aided educational and research schemes or institutions;
(vi) project for sports, heath care, tourism, transportation or space programme;
(vii) any infrastructure facility as may be notified in this regard by the Central Government and after tabling of such notification in Parliament;
(c)�project for project affected families;
(d)�project for housing for such income groups, as may be specified from time to time by the appropriate Government;
(e) project for planned development or the improvement of village sites or any site in the urban areas or provision of land for residential purposes for the weaker sections in rural and urban areas;
(f) project for residential purposes to the poor or landless or to persons residing in areas affected by natural calamities, or to persons displaced or affected by reason of the implementation of any scheme undertaken by the Government, any local authority or a corporation owned or controlled by the State.
(2) The provisions of this Act relating to land acquisition, consent, compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement, shall also apply, when the appropriate Government acquires land for the following purposes, namely:—
(a) for public private partnership projects, where the ownership of the land continues to vest with the Government, for public purpose as defined in sub-section (1);
(b)�for private companies for public purpose, as defined in sub-section (1):
Provided that in the case of acquisition for—
(i) private companies, the prior consent of at least eighty per cent, of those affected families, as defined in sub-clauses (i) and (v) of clause (c) of section 3; and
(ii) public private partnership projects, the prior consent of at least seventy per cent, of those affected families, as defined in sub-clauses (i) and (v) of clause (c)�of section 3,
shall be obtained through a process as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government:
Provided further that the process of obtaining the consent shall be carried out along with the Social Impact Assessment study referred to in section 4:
Provided also that no land shall be transferred by way of acquisition, in the Scheduled Areas in contravention of any law (including any order or judgment of a court which has become final) relating to land transfer, prevailing in such Scheduled Areas.
(3) The provisions relating to rehabilitation and resettlement under this Act shall apply in the cases where,—
(a) a private company purchases land, equal to or more than such limits in rural areas or urban areas, as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government, through private negotiations with the owner of the land in accordance with the provisions of section 46;
(b) a private company requests the appropriate Government for acquisition of a part of an area so prescribed for a public purpose:
Provided that where a private company requests the appropriate Government for partial acquisition of land for public purpose, then, the rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements under the Second Schedule shall be applicable for the entire area which includes the land purchased by the private company and acquired by the Government for the project as a whole.
3. Definitions.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a)�"Administrator" means an officer appointed for the purpose of rehabilitation and resettlement of affected families under sub-section (1) of section 43;
(b) "affected area" means such area as may be notified by the appropriate Government for the purposes of land acquisition;
(c)�"affected family" includes—
(i) a family whose land or other immovable property has been acquired;
(ii) a family which does not own any land but a member or members of such family may be agricultural labourers, tenants including any form of tenancy or holding of usufruct right, share-croppers or artisans or who may be working in the affected area for three years prior to the acquisition of the land, whose primary source of livelihood stand affected by the acquisition of land;
(iii) the Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers who have lost any of their forest rights recognised under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 due to acquisition of land;
(iv) family whose primary source of livelihood for three years prior to the acquisition of the land is dependent on forests or water bodies and includes gatherers of forest produce, hunters, fisher folk and boatmen and such livelihood is affected due to acquisition of land;
(v) a member of the family who has been assigned land by the State Government or the Central Government under any of its schemes and such land is under acquisition;
(vi) a family residing on any land in the urban areas for preceding three years or more prior to the acquisition of the land or whose primary source of livelihood for three years prior to the acquisition of the land is affected by the acquisition of such land;
(d) "agricultural land" means land used for the purpose of—
(i) agriculture or horticulture;
(ii) dairy farming, poultry farming, pisciculture, sericulture, seed farming breeding of livestock or nursery growing medicinal herbs;
(iii) raising of crops, trees, grass or garden produce; and
(iv) land used for the grazing of cattle;
(e)�"appropriate Government" means,—
(i) in relation to acquisition of land situated within the territory of a State, the State Government;
(ii) in relation to acquisition of land situated within a Union territory (except Puducherry), the Central Government;
(iii) in relation to acquisition of land situated within the Union territory of Puducherry, the Government of Union territory of Puducherry;
(iv)�in relation to acquisition of land for public purpose in more than one State, the Central Government, in consultation with the concerned State Governments or Union territories; and
(v) in relation to the acquisition of land for the purpose of the Union as may be specified by notification, the Central Government:
Provided that in respect of a public purpose in a District for an area not exceeding such as may be notified by the appropriate Government, the Collector of such District shall be deemed to be the appropriate Government;
(f) "Authority" means the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authority established under section 51;
(g)�"Collector" means the Collector of a revenue district, and includes a Deputy Commissioner and any officer specially designated by the appropriate Government to perform the functions of a Collector under this Act;
(h)"Commissioner" means the Commissioner for Rehabilitation and Resettlement appointed under sub-section (1) of section 44;
(i) "cost of acquisition" includes—
(i) amount of compensation which includes solatium, any enhanced compensation ordered by the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authority or the Court and interest payable thereon and any other amount determined as payable to the affected families by such Authority or Court;
(ii) demurrage to be paid for damages caused to the land and standing crops in the process of acquisition;
(iii)�cost of acquisition of land and building for settlement of displaced or adversely affected families;
(iv) cost of development of infrastructure and amenities at the resettlement areas;
(v) cost of rehabilitation and resettlement as determined in accordance with the provisions of this Act;
(vi) administrative cost,—
(A) for acquisition of land, including both in the project site and out of project area lands, not exceeding such percentage of the cost of compensation as may be specified by the appropriate Government;
(B) for rehabilitation and resettlement of the owners of the land and other affected families whose land has been acquired or proposed to be acquired or other families affected by such acquisition;
(vii) cost of undertaking 'Social impact Assessment study';
(j) "company" means—
(i) a company as defined in section 3 of the Companies Act, 1956, other than a Government company;
(ii) a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 or under any corresponding law for the time being in force in a State;
(k) "displaced family" means any family, who on account of acquisition of land has to be relocated and resettled from the affected area to the resettlement area;
(l) "entitled to act", in relation to a person, shall be deemed to include the following persons, namely:—
(i) trustees for other persons beneficially interested with reference to any such case, and that to the same extent as the person beneficially interested could have acted if free from disability;
(ii) the guardians of minors and the committees or managers of lunatics to the same extent as the minors, lunatics or other persons of unsound mind themselves, if free from disability, could have acted:
Provided that the provisions of Order XXXII of the First Schedule to the Code of�Civil Procedure, 1908 shall, mutatis mutandis, apply in the case of persons interested appearing before a Collector or Authority by a next friend, or by a guardian for the case, in proceedings under this Act;
(m) "family" includes a person, his or her spouse, minor children, minor brothers and minor sisters dependent on him:
Provided that widows, divorcees and women deserted by families shall be considered separate families;
Explanation.— An adult of either gender with or without spouse or children or dependents shall be considered as a separate family for the purposes of this Act.
(n) "holding of land" means the total land held by a person as an owner, occupant or tenant or otherwise;
(o) "infrastructure project" shall include any one or more of the items specified in clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 2;
(p) "land" includes benefits to arise out of land, and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth;
(q) "landless" means such persons or class of persons who may be,—
(i) considered or specified as such under any State law for the time being in force; or
(ii) in a case of landless not being specified under sub-clause (i), as may be specified by the appropriate Government;
(r) "land owner" includes any person,—
(i) whose name is recorded as the owner of the land or building or part thereof, in the records of the authority concerned; or
(ii) any person who is granted forest rights under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 or under any other law for the time being in force; or
(iii) who is entitled to be granted Patta rights on the land under any law of the State including assigned lands; or
(iv) any person who has been declared as such by an order of the court or Authority;
(s) "local authority" includes a town planning authority (by whatever name called) set up under any law for the time being in force, a Panchayat as defined in article 243 and a Municipality as defined in article 243P, of the Constitution;
(t) "marginal farmer" means a cultivator with an un-irrigated land holding up to one hectare or irrigated land holding up to one-half hectare;
(u) "market value" means the value of land determined in accordance with section 26;
(v) "notification" means a notification published in the Gazette of India or, as the case may be, the Gazette of a State and the expression "notify" shall be construed accordingly;
(w) "patta" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in the relevant Central or State Acts or rules or regulations made thereunder;
(x) "person interested" means—
(i) all persons claiming an interest in compensation to be made on account of the acquisition of land under this Act;
(ii) the Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers, who have lost any forest rights recognised under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006; 2 of 2007.
(iii) a person interested in an easement affecting the land;
(iv)�persons having tenancy rights under the relevant State laws including share-croppers by whatever name they may be called; and
(v)any person whose primary source of livelihood is likely to be adversely affected;
(y) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(z) "project" means a project for which land is being acquired, irrespective of the number of persons affected;
(za) "public purpose" means the activities specified under sub-section (7) of section 2;
(zb) "Requiring Body" means a company, a body corporate, an institution, or any other organisation or person for whom land is to be acquired by the appropriate Government, and includes the appropriate Government, if the acquisition of land is for such Government either for its own use or for subsequent transfer of such land is for public purpose to a company, body corporate, an institution, or any other organisation, as the case may be, under lease, licence or through any other mode of transfer of land;
(zc) "Resettlement Area" means an area where the affected families who have been displaced as a result of land acquisition are resettled by the appropriate Government;
(zd) "Scheduled Areas" means the Scheduled Areas as defined in section 2 of the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996;
(ze) "small farmer" means a cultivator with an un-irrigated land holding up to two hectares or with an irrigated land holding up to one hectare, but more than the holding of a marginal farmer.
CHAPTER II
Determination of social impact and public purpose
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