Bombay HC asks govt to fix systemic failures in land acquisition cases

The Bombay High Court has slammed the Maharashtra government for its "large and systemic failure" in dealing with land acquisition matters, depriving owners of compensation, and directed it to adopt a "mission-mode" to resolve them.

A bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Hiten Venegavkar of the HC's Aurangabad bench on Tuesday said the continued failure to complete acquisition proceedings, even after possession and completion of projects, amounts to a continuing wrong and breach of constitutional duty.

Its remarks came on a plea filed by a bunch of residents in Beed district whose lands were acquired by the irrigation division in 1996 for a village water tank construction, but the acquisition proceedings were not yet completed due to which they had not received the compensation.

The bench noted that many of the affected landowners are agriculturists, illiterate or rustic persons who may not even be aware of the formal acquisition proceedings or that they are entitled to compensation and statutory interest.

"The issues which repeatedly come before this court in matters of land acquisition disclose a deeply disturbing and systemic failure on the part of the state administration," the court said.

The bench said it cannot overlook the fact that such delay and inaction in completing the acquisition process, despite having taken possession of the land, has "grave and multi-dimensional consequences".

"Once land is taken from a citizen, the obligation to determine and pay compensation is absolute," HC said.

"The state, which claims to be a welfare state, cannot be permitted to take advantage of such ignorance or helplessness," it stressed.

The bench noted that the strong foundations of a good state are good laws and good arms.

"Good laws" means structure, standards, discipline and rules followed and obeyed in all circumstances and "good arms" means capable executives and bureaucrats who implement the laws effectively, it said, adding this builds a strong foundation of every good state.

The court said in several cases of land acquisition matters, it has noticed that the state government and its officials have been completely negligent for years together in completing the process, thereby causing not only hardship but harassment to the land owners.

There is a "larger, systemic problem" repeatedly noticed by this court in land acquisition matters, HC said.

"Aggrieved land owners are driven to litigation only because the authorities fail to perform their basic statutory obligations. Such a situation cannot be permitted to continue," HC said.

Such a delay results not only in grave prejudice to the landowners but also in substantial and avoidable financial burden on the public exchequer by way of interest and escalated compensation, it pointed out.

When there is a persistent non-implementation of law, what is required is a "focused, mission-mode" administrative response to identify all pending land acquisition cases, categorise them and take them to their lawful conclusion, it added.

The HC directed the Maharashtra government to adopt a comprehensive, state-wide mechanism to address all pending land acquisition cases in which possession of the land has been taken but no award has been passed and those where awards passed but compensation not deposited.

The Maharashtra government's chief secretary is required to take cognisance of the issue, the HC said.

A dedicated, mission-mode administrative structure and a committee shall be formed comprising senior officers from the state revenue, finance, law and judiciary departments with a nodal officer for coordination, monitoring and compliance, it said.

The HC ordered the state government to undertake a comprehensive identification and compilation of all pending land acquisition cases and then complete the proceedings within a stipulated time.

The court cannot remain a "silent spectator" to repeated instances where public funds are squandered due to negligence, apathy or indifference of officials and hence accountability needs to be fixed, it asserted.

"The situation has reached a stage where delay can no longer be tolerated. The wound, as it were, has festered for years; timely and decisive intervention is now necessary to ensure that it does not become incurable, to the detriment of both the citizens and the state itself," HC said.

The Beed Irrigation Division took possession of the petitioners' lands in 1996 for the construction of a village water tank, which was completed the same year and the land has since then been utilised for public purposes.

However, to date, no award has been passed, no compensation determined and no compensation given to the petitioners.

The court noted that after the petitioners filed the plea in 2018, the proceedings were initiated and an award of Rs 31 lakh was fixed, but they have yet to receive the amount.

It directed the government to make the payment of compensation to the petitioners within a period of eight weeks.