Guj amends Disturbed Areas Act, expands scope of 'transfer'

The Gujarat Assembly Monday amended the Disturbed Areas Act with stringent provisions amid complaints from people that the current Act was unable to curb the illegal sale or transfer of their properties in such notified areas.

The Congress MLAs opposed the amendment bill tabled by in charge Revenue minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama.

The Bill sought to amend the The Gujarat Prohibition of Transfer of Immovable Property and Provision for Protection of Tenants from Eviction from Premises in Disturbed Areas Act, 1991, commonly referred to as the Disturbed Areas Act.

The Act bans sale of property by a member of one religious community to a member of another community without the prior approval of the district collector.

This Act is in force in some communally sensitive areas of the state, including in Ahmedabad and Vadodara.

As per the new provisions inserted into the present Act by way of the amendment bill, the word "transfer" will include sale, gift, exchange, lease or taking possession of the property by way of power of attorney.

Explaining the rationale behind the amendment, Chudasama said many people with "malafide intentions" were found to be unlawfully acquiring properties in disturbed areas through power of attorney or by adding their names in the revenue records without taking consent of the collector as mandated in the Act.

"We have found that some elements with malafide intentions have been acquiring properties in disturbed areas using illegal methods and thereby forcing lawful residents to sell their properties to them out of fear or under pressure. We want to plug those loopholes in the present Act," he said.

Now, apart from checking if the transfer or property was with free consent, and fair value was paid to the owner, the collector can now check if there is any "likelihood of polarisation", "disturbance in demographic equilibrium" or any "likelihood of improper clustering of persons of a community" if the transfer takes place.

The collector can reject the application of transfer after making assessment on these grounds, the bill says, adding that the aggrieved person can now file an appeal with the state government against the collector's order, something which was missing in the present Act.

To stop people from acquiring properties in disturbed areas through illegal means, the bill proposes imprisonment between three to five years along with a fine of Rs 1 lakh or 10 per cent of value of property, whichever is higher.

The bill also allows the state government to form a "Monitoring and Advisory Committee" to keep a check on the demographic structure in the disturbed areas.

The committee can also advise the collector about various issues regarding the implementation of the Act.

"Further, the bill also proposes to form a special investigation team (SIT) to assist the state government in forming opinion before declaring any area to be a disturbed one. It will also assist the Monitoring and Advisory Committee in gathering necessary information," said Chudasama.

While BJP MLAs, including Rakesh Shah of Ahmedabad and Manisha Vakil of Vadodara supported the bill, Congress MLAs, mainly Imran Khedawala, opposed it claiming it targets people from a specific religion.

"This Act is akin to Article 370 imposed in Jammu and Kashmir, where no outsider can buy property. While the ruling party wants to repeal Article 370 from that state, the same party wants to impose similar rule here. Why this double standard?" Khedawala asked.

"This Act is a result of a fear that population of one particular religious community will grow more than others. This Act violates our Constitutional right to buy property anywhere we want," said Khedawala.

Chudasama, however, said the bill was about providing security to people and not targeting a specific religious community.

"We have received complaints that properties were being transferred on a simple stamp paper. We brought this bill because it is needed. This is about providing security to people and their properties. It is not about Hindus or Muslims. The Bill says any transfer by any mode is illegal if collector has not given his consent. You are trying to give it a political colour," alleged Chudasama.

During Monday's session, the Assembly also passed the The Gujarat Land Revenue Amendment Bill, which proposes some minor changes in the process of obtaining permission from the state government to change the purpose of non-agricultural land.