Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013

Section 59: Orders Constituting Authority to Be Final and Not to Invalidate Its Proceedings

Section 59 protects the constitution and proceedings of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authority from challenge merely because of a defect in the constitution of the Authority. It also gives finality, in the terms stated by the provision, to an order of the appropriate Government appointing a person as Presiding Officer.

Text of Section 59

Meaning and Scope of Section 59

The provision has two connected protections. First, it states that an order of the appropriate Government appointing a person as the Presiding Officer of an Authority shall not be called in question in any manner. Second, an act or proceeding before the Authority cannot be questioned merely on the ground of a defect in the constitution of that Authority.

The word "merely" is important to the second part of the section. The provision addresses a challenge based only on a defect in the constitution of the Authority. The text should therefore be read according to its stated scope and not as a general provision validating every act irrespective of other requirements of the Act.

What Is the Authority?

Under Section 51 of the 2013 Act, the appropriate Government establishes one or more Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authorities for speedy disposal of disputes relating to land acquisition, compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement. Section 59 appears in the same chapter dealing with the establishment, composition, Presiding Officer and functioning of those Authorities.

Practical Effect

Where proceedings have taken place before an Authority, Section 59 prevents those proceedings from being attacked solely because there is a defect in the constitution of the Authority. Its purpose is to protect proceedings from being invalidated on that limited institutional ground and to provide continuity to the adjudicatory mechanism created under the Act.

Legal note: Section 59 should be read with the surrounding provisions of Chapter VIII, particularly Sections 51 to 60, and with any applicable rules, notifications and judicial decisions relevant to the particular acquisition or proceeding.

Official Source

The central Act is administered by the Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development. The official India Code database provides the Act, its section list and related subordinate legislation.