Congress has no moral right to criticise land ordinance: Centre

The central government on Wednesday said the Congress had no "moral right" to criticise the land ordinance as the party has acquired acres of land while the older version of the act was in place.

"Since 1984 to 2013, lakhs of acres of land have been acquired by the Congress for SEZs and commercial purposes without giving proper compensation. They have no moral right to criticise our legislation," Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said.

Asked if the government would re-promulgate the land ordinance, Naidu said: "There are processes and there is precedence."

"Certain ordinances have been re-promulgated more than thrice," he said.

He ,however, refused to give a clear answer to the question.

A bill to amend the Land Acquisition Act introduced in the Lok Sabha has been sent to a joint parliamentary committee which is expected to give its report by the first day of the monsoon session.

The ordinance may therefore lapse before the bill is passed in the two houses.