Highway Law Gives Govt Sweeping Land Acquisition Powers

President Shankar Dayal Sharma has granted his assent to the Highways (Amendment) Bill, which confers sweeping powers upon the government to acquire land for building, maintenance, management or operation of a national highway.

The new law, called the National Highways Law (Amendment) Act, 1997, is aimed at revamping the existing National Highways Act, 1956 and the National Highways Authority of India Act, 1988, in order to clear bottlenecks in the rapid growth of this sector.

The new law grants sweeping land acquisition powers to a competent authority, who could be any person designated by the government.

The authoritys verdict on the land so acquired or sought to be acquired will be final and cannot be challenged in a court of law, subject to the aggrieved land-owner having been given the right to be heard.

 

Once the procedure laid down for land acquisition has been followed by the competent authority and the aggrieved landowner, if any, has been given the opportunity to be heard within the specified time, the landowner has no option but to surrender the land. If he demurs or resists, the competent authority is empowered to enforce the delivery of possession with the help of the Police Commissioner or District Collec-tor, as the case may be.

The landowner, or anyone interested in the land which is sought to be acquired, can lodge a protest within 21 days of official notification. However, the decision of the competent authority will be final. The amount of compensation for the land is to be determined as per the market value of the land. Dislocation caused to any person in the event of his having to shift his residence or place of business is also required to be compensated.

Any disputes regarding the amount paid as compensation are to be settled through an arbitration process.

The competent authority has been vested with all the powers of a civil court while trying a suit under the code of civil procedure, 1908, for the purpose of disposing off land acquisition cases and ensuring that the land in question is taken possession of.

The Act specifically states that no part of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, shall apply to an acquisition for highway development under the present Act.

Similarly, the amended law has ended the immunity of land falling within the jurisdiction of local bodies from being acquired for the purpose of highway development.

The law has thus, over-ruled the National Highways Act, 1956, which had granted immunity to land situated within any municipal area.

Land acquisition powers are normally vested with the Collector of a revenue district. Persistent requests by the Union surface transport ministry to grant this power to the chairman of the state-owned National Highway Authority of India were not previously accepted by the government.

However, this situation could now change, since the new Act allows any person or authority to be designated by the government to act as the competent authority.