Section 2 of the RFCTLARR Act, 2013: Application of the Act
Section 2 explains when the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 applies to land acquisition, compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement, including acquisitions for Government use, public purpose, public private partnership projects and private companies.
Act: The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Act No. 30 of 2013.
Commencement: The Central Act came into force on 1 January 2014.
Section 2: "Application of Act". The provision has three sub-sections covering Government acquisition for public purpose, acquisition for PPP projects or private companies, and specified private purchases or partial Government acquisitions attracting rehabilitation and resettlement obligations.
What Section 2 Covers
Section 2 defines the principal situations in which the Act applies. It connects the acquisition power of the appropriate Government with the Act's requirements relating to compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement. For PPP projects and private companies, it also prescribes prior consent requirements for specified affected families.
The expression "public purpose" in Section 2(1) is structured around strategic purposes, specified infrastructure projects, projects for project affected families, housing for specified income groups, planned development and housing or rehabilitation for weaker sections, poor, landless and certain displaced or disaster affected persons.
Section 2(1) - Government Acquisition for Public Purpose
Section 2(1) applies the provisions relating to land acquisition, compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement where the appropriate Government acquires land for its own use, hold and control, including for Public Sector Undertakings, and for a public purpose. The purposes listed in the provision include:
Strategic purposes
Strategic purposes relating to naval, military, air force and armed forces of the Union, including central paramilitary forces, works vital to national security or defence of India, State police and safety of the people.
Infrastructure projects
- Activities or items listed in the Government of India, Department of Economic Affairs infrastructure notification referred to in Section 2(1)(b)(i), excluding private hospitals, private educational institutions and private hotels.
- Agro-processing, agricultural inputs, warehousing, cold storage and marketing infrastructure for agriculture and allied activities such as dairy, fisheries and meat processing, where set up or owned by the appropriate Government, a farmers' cooperative or a statutory institution.
- Industrial corridors or mining activities and national investment and manufacturing zones as designated in the National Manufacturing Policy.
- Water harvesting, water conservation structures and sanitation projects.
- Government administered or Government aided educational and research schemes or institutions.
- Projects for sports, health care, tourism, transportation or space programmes.
- Any infrastructure facility notified by the Central Government in accordance with the statutory procedure.
Other specified public purposes
- Projects for project affected families.
- Housing projects for income groups specified by the appropriate Government.
- Planned development or improvement of village sites or urban sites, or land for residential purposes for weaker sections in rural and urban areas.
- Residential projects for the poor or landless, persons residing in areas affected by natural calamities, or persons displaced or affected by implementation of schemes undertaken by Government, a local authority or a State-owned or State-controlled corporation.
Section 2(2) - PPP Projects and Private Companies
Section 2(2) applies the Act's provisions relating to land acquisition, consent, compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement where the appropriate Government acquires land for:
- Public private partnership projects: where ownership of the land continues to vest with the Government and the acquisition is for a public purpose falling within Section 2(1).
- Private companies: where acquisition is for a public purpose as defined in Section 2(1).
Prior consent requirement
For acquisition for a private company, prior consent of at least 80 per cent of the affected families falling within the categories specified in Section 3(c)(i) and Section 3(c)(v) is required. For a public private partnership project, prior consent of at least 70 per cent of those affected families is required. Consent is to be obtained through the process prescribed by the appropriate Government.
The consent process is to be carried out along with the Social Impact Assessment study under Section 4. Section 2 also protects Scheduled Areas by providing that land cannot be transferred through acquisition contrary to applicable law, including a final court order or judgment governing land transfer in those areas.
Section 2(3) - Rehabilitation and Resettlement in Certain Private Transactions
Section 2(3) applies the rehabilitation and resettlement provisions of the Act in specified situations involving private companies:
- Where a private company purchases land through private negotiations equal to or above the limits prescribed by the appropriate Government for rural or urban areas, in accordance with Section 46.
- Where a private company requests the appropriate Government to acquire part of an area prescribed for a public purpose.
Where a private company requests partial acquisition by the Government for a public purpose, the rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements under the Second Schedule apply to the entire project area, including land purchased privately and land acquired by the Government.
State-specific limits: The threshold area for private purchases referred to in Section 2(3) is not a single uniform figure stated in Section 2. The applicable limit depends on the prescription or notification of the appropriate Government and should be checked for the relevant State or Union Territory.
Important Definitions for Section 2
The "appropriate Government" is the Central Government or the State Government in the situations specified by Section 3(e). Identifying the appropriate Government is important because it determines which Government exercises several acquisition, consent, notification and rule-making functions under the Act.
Section 3(c) defines "affected family" through specified categories. For the consent requirement under Section 2(2), the provision expressly refers to affected families falling within Section 3(c)(i) and Section 3(c)(v).
For Section 2, public purpose is expressed through the categories and purposes set out in Section 2(1), including strategic purposes, specified infrastructure projects and the other public welfare and development purposes listed there.
The expression "private company" has the meaning assigned in Section 3(za) of the Act and should be read with the statutory definition applicable to the acquisition concerned.
"Requiring Body" covers the company, body corporate, institution, organisation or person for whom land is acquired by the appropriate Government, and includes the appropriate Government where land is acquired for its own use or for subsequent transfer for a public purpose.
The Social Impact Assessment process examines the public purpose, affected families, likely social impacts and related matters before acquisition in cases where the statutory SIA requirements apply. Section 2(2) links the prescribed consent process with the SIA study under Section 4.
Official Act and Rules
Section 2 should be read with Section 3 definitions, the Social Impact Assessment provisions, Section 46 where applicable, the schedules to the Act, and the rules or notifications of the appropriate Government. State amendments may also affect the operation of the Central framework in a particular State.
India Code - RFCTLARR Act, 2013