REGISTERED NO. D. 221

The Gazette of India

EXTRAORDINARY

PART II—Section 1

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

No. II] NEW DELHI, FRIDAY, APRIL 29. 1966/VAISAKHA 9, 1888

Separate paging is given to this Part in order that it may be filed

as a separate compilation

MINISTRY OF LAW

(Legislative Department)4

New Delhi, the 29th April, 1966/Vaisakha 9, 1888 (Saka)

The following President's Act is published for general infor-

mation:—

THE KERALA LAND ACQUISITION (AMENDMENT)

ACT, 1966

No. 4 OF 1966

Enacted by the President in the Seventeenth Year of the

Republic of India.

An Act to amend the Kerala Land Acquisition Act, 1961.

12 of 1965.

In. exercise of the powers conferred by section 3 of the Kerala

State Legislature (Delegation of Powers) Act, 1965, the President

is pleased to enact as follows: —

1. (1) This Act may be called the Kerala Land Acquisition

(Amendment) Act, 1966.

Short title

and

commence-

ment.

THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY

,[Eun *

(2) It shall come into foree on such date as the Government

may, by notification in the Gasrette, appoint.

Amend-

ment of

section 6.

2» In section 6 of the Kerala Land Acquisition Act, 1961 .^herein-

after referred to as the principal Act):,—

(i) to sub-section (1),.the follewing p«)vise⁵sfedll'be-added,

namely: —

"Provided that no such declaration shall be made in

respect of a land after the expiry of a period of two year*

from the date of the publication of the notification under

sub-section (1) of section 3 in respect of such land.";

(ii) after sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall

be inserted, namely: —

" (3) Where no declaration under this section is made in

respect of a land within the period ^specified in the proviso to

sub-section (1), the notification under sub-section (1) of

section 3 in respect of such land shall be deemed to have

been cancelled."

Karala Art

21 of

1911.

Amend-

ment of

section 43.

3. In sub-section (1) of section 43 of^th.e principal Act, a##e*~

clause (a), the following clause,.shall.he-inserted, namely;

" (aa) that such acquisition is needed for the construction

of some building dr work for a company which is engaged, or is

taking steps for engaging itself, in any industry or work which

is for a public purpose, and that the building or waoric which such

company is intending to construct is meant to subserve tfeae farfaiic

purpose of the industry or work for which It is, being construct-

ed, or".

Amend-

ment of

section 44.

4. In section 44 of the principal Act,—

(a) for the words "the purpose of the proposed acquisition

is to obtain land for the erection of dwelling-houses for work-

men employed by the company or for the provision of amenities

directly connected therewith, or that the proposed acquisition

is needed for the construction of a work, and that such work is

likely to prove useful to the public, or that the'proposed acquisi-

tion is for a purpose calculated to promote and develop agricul-

ture, industry or co-operation", the words, brackets, letters and

figures "the proposed acquisition is for any of the purpose*

referred to in clause (a) or clause (aa) or clause (b) or clause

Sic. 1]

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(h) in clause (4), the word "and" occurring at the end

shall be omitted, and after that clause, the following clause shall

be inserted, namely:—

" (4A) where the acquisition is for the construction of

any building or work referred to in clause (aa) of sub-

section (2) of section 43, the time within which, and the

conditions on which, the building or work shall be construct-

ed or executed; and".

5. In Part VII of the principal Act, after section 45, the following

sections shall be inserted, namely: —

Insertion

of new

sections

45A and

45B.

'45A. No company for which any land is acquired under this

Part shall be entitled to transfer the said land or any part there-

of by sale, mortgage, gift, lease or otherwise, except with the

previous- sanction of the Government.

Restriction

on- trans?-

fer, etc.

45B. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, no land

shall bfe a«q«ired under this Part¹, except for the purpose men-

tiaaed? «f*Claus5&«'fs*^ro!subjection (2) of section 43, for a private

company which is not a Government company.

Explanation.—"Private company" and "Government

com-

pany" shall have the meanings respectively assigned, to them

in the Companies Act, 1956 (Central Act 1 oi 1956

Land not

to be ac-

quired

under this

Part ex-

cept for

certain

purpose

for private

companies

other

than

Govern-

ment

companies.

&. For rseetisns 46 to 48 of the principal Act. the following sections

shall be substituted, namely: —

substitu-

tion of

new sec-

tions for

sections 46

to 48.

'46. The provisions of th:'s Part shall apply to the acquisi-

tion of land in such project area as may be specified by the

Government by notification under section 47A:

Provided-that such provisions shall not apply to any acquisi-

tk>m of land in a project area where the notification under sub-

section (2) of section 3 in respect of the acquisition is not pub-

lished within three years from the date of the publication of the

notification under section 47A.

Provisions

of this

Part ap-

plicable

in the

case of

specified

projects.

47. In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires,—

(i) "project area" means the area covered by one or

more revenue villages or survey numbers, the whole or any

Defi*

nitions,

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[PART H

portion of which is needed or is likely to be needed for a

project purpose;

(ii) "project purpose" means the purpose of execution,

jexpansion or development of a project.

Notifi-

cation de-

claring

projects

to which

the pro-

visions

of thisr

Part

shall

apply.

47A. Where the Government are of opinion that as a result

of a project¹ undertaken or proposed to be undertaken by them,

there is likelihood of a speculative rise in the land value in the

project area, they may, by notification in the Gazette, specify

the project area.

Acquisi-

tion of

land in

project

areas.

48. Whenever land is proposed to be acquired in a project

area, the provisions of this Act shall apply subject to the follow-

ing modifications, namely: —

(2) for section 11, the following section shall be substi-

tuted, namely: —

Enquiry

and

award by

Collector.

'11. On the day so fixed, or on any other day to

which the enquiry has been adjourned, the Collector

shall proceed to enquire into—

(a) the objections, if any, which any person

interested has stated pursuant to a notice given

under section 9 to the measurements made under

section 8;

(b) the value of the land at the date of the

publication of the notification under section 47A;

effected after the date referred to in clause (b) and

before the date of the publication of the notifica-

tion under sub-section (1) of section 3;

(d) where there has been a normal rise in.land

value in the locality in which the project area lies

after the date of the publication of the notification

under section 47A and before the date of the pub-

lication of the notification under sub-section (1) of

section 3, such rise in price;

(e) the valule of the land at the date of the

publication of the notification under sub-section (1)

of section 3; and

SEC 1]

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(f) the respective interest¹ of the persons claim-

ing the compensation,

and shall make an award under his hand of—

(i) the true area of the land;

(ii) the compensation which in his opinion

shall be allowed for the land; and

(iii) the apportionment of the said compensa-

tion among all the persons known or believed to be

interested in the land, of whom, or of whose claims,

he has information, whether or not they have

respectively appeared before him.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section and

clause -first of sub-section (2) of section 25, the expres-

sion "land value" shall mean value of land not includ-

ing improvements thereon.';

(2) in sub-section (I) of section 25, for clause first, the

following clause shall be substituted, namely: —

"first, (a) the market value of the land at the date

of the publication of the notification under section 47A,

the value of any improvements to the land effected after

that date and before the date of the publication of the

notification under sub-section (1) of section 3, and,

where there has been a normal rise in land value in the

locality in which the project area lies after the date of

the publication of the notification under section 47A

and before the date of the publication of the notification

under sub-section (1) of section 3, such rise in price

subject to a maximum of twenty per cent, of the market

value of the land at the date of the publication of the

notification under section 47A, or

(b) the market value of the land at the date of the

publication of the notification under sub-section (1) of

section 3,

whichever is less;".'.

7. Notwithstanding any judgment, decree or order of any court,

every acquisition of land for a company made or

purporting to

have been made under Part VII of the principal Act or under the

corresponding provisions of any of the Acts repealed by the princi-

pal A,c$ before the, date of the commencement of this Act shall, in

Validation

of certain

acquisi-

tions.

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[PART BT

so far as such acquisition is not for any of the purposes mentioned

in clause (a) or clause (b) or clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section

43 of the principal Act, or the corresponding provisions of any of the

Acts repealed by the principal Act, be deemed to have been made

for the purpose mentioned in clause (aa) of the said sub-section, and

accordingly every such acquisition and any proceeding, order, agree-

ment or action in connection with such acquisition shall be, and

shall be deemed always to have been as valid as if the provisions

of sections 43 and 44 of the principal Act, as amended by this Act,

were in force at all material times when such acquisition was made

or proceeding was held or order was made or agreement was enter-

ed into or action was taken.

Explanation.—In this section, "company" has the same meaning

as in- clause (4) of section 2 of the principal Act.

S. RADHAKRISHNAN,

President.

S. P. SEN-VARMA,

Secy, to the Govt, of India.

Reasons for the enactment

The compensation payable for lands acquired under the pro-

visions of the Kerala Land Acquisition Act, 1961, is determined on

the basis of the market value of the land on the date of the publi-

cation of the notification under section 3(1). The Act does not fix

any maximum period within which the declaration under section 6

about the land being needed for a public purpose should be made

by the Government. It frequently happens that there is consider-

able delay after the preliminary notification, before the declaration

under section 6 is issued, during which period the land value may

go up but the land owners do not get the benefit of the rise in the

land values during the interval. In order to avoid unnecessary

time lag between the date of publication of the notification under

section 3(2) and the date of publication of the declaration under

section 6, it is considered necessary to provide that the declaration

shallbe made within a period of two years from the date of publi-

cation of the notification under section 3(1) and that on failure to do

so,' the notification shall be deemed to have been cancelled.

Sic. 1]

TTiE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDITWRV

2. Under the Kerala Land Acquisition Act, land may be acquired

for a public purpose as also for companies. The purposes for which

acquisition of land for companies may be made are however restrict-

ed and they have been specified in section 43(1) of the Act. Accord-

ing to clause (b) of section 43(1), .such acquisition may be made for

the construction of some work which is likely to prove useful to

the public. The Supreme Court of India in the case of R. L. Afora

vs. State of Uttar Pradesh (AIR 1962 SC 764) held that land can

be acquired for a company under section 40 (1) (b) read with section

41 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (Central Act) only when the

work to be constructed would be directly useful to the public and

the public would be entitled to use the work as of right for its own

benefit in accordance with the terms of the agreement. In order to

overcome the difficulties created by the Supreme Court judgment,

sections 40 and 41 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, were suitably

amended by the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1962 (31 of

1962). Act 31 of 1962 also provides for validating all past acquisi-

tions of land for companies. It is considered

necessary to make

similar efmendments in the Kerala Land Acquisition Act and also

to validate all past acquisitions of land made in the State for com-

panies.

3. Section 44A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, prohibits the

sale, mortgage, etc., of lands acquired for companies without the

previous sanction of the Government. Section 44B of that Act pro-

vides that land shall be acquired for a private company only for the

purpose mentioned in clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 40,

namely, construction of dwelling houses for workmen or for the pro-

vision of amenities directly connected therewith. It is considered

necessary to make similar provisions in the Kerala Land Acquisition

Act.

4. Sections 46 to 48 of the Kerala Land Acquisition Act contain

special provisions for the acquisition of land for projects. In ac-

quiring lands for project purposes, it is necessary that the project

should be made known to the public. It is therefore considered

necessary to provide for specifying the project area by notification

in the Gazette where in the opinion of the Government speculative

rise in the land value takes place due to a project snonsored by the

Government, and also to provide that for all acquisitions made in

the project area the market value of the land on the date of publi-

cation of such notification should be the basis for determining

the

compensation. It is also considered that provision should be made to

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[PAST H—SIC. lj

the effect that the notification specifying the project area should be

enforced only for a period of three years from such date and that

in determining the compensation, an allowance should be made for

the normal rise in the land value during the period between such

date and the date of publication of the notification under section

3(1), subject to a maximum of 20 per cent, of the land value on the

date first mentioned.

5. The present enactment amends the Kerala Land Acquisition

Act for the above purposes.

6. The Committee constituted under the proviso to sub-section

(2) of section 3 of the Kerala State Legislature (Delegation

Powers) Act, 1965 (12 of 1965), has approved the enactment of this

measure as a President's Act.

B. SIVARAMAN,

Secy, to the Govt, of India,

Department of Agriculture.

PRINTED IN INDIA BY THE GENERAL MANAGER, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA PRESS,

M2NT0 ROAD, NEW DELHI AND PUBLISHED BY THE MANAGER OF PUBLICATIONS,

DELHI, 1966.