Section 95: Acquisition at Cost of Local Authority or Requiring Body
Section 95 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 deals with acquisition financed from a fund controlled or managed by a local authority or by a Requiring Body, and specifies their role in proceedings concerning compensation.
Section 95 - Acquisition of Land at Cost of a Local Authority or Requiring Body
(1) Where the provisions of this Act are put in force for the purpose of acquiring land at the cost of any fund controlled or managed by a local authority or of any Requiring Body, the charges of land incidental to such acquisition shall be defrayed from or by such fund or Requiring Body.
(2) In any proceeding held before a Collector or Authority concerned in such cases the local authority or Requiring Body concerned may appear and adduce evidence for the purpose of determining the amount of compensation:
Provided that no such local authority or Requiring Body shall be entitled to demand a reference to the Authority concerned under section 64.
Meaning and Scope of Section 95
Section 95 identifies who bears acquisition-related charges when acquisition is undertaken at the cost of a local authority's fund or a Requiring Body. It also gives that entity a limited participatory role in proceedings before the Collector or the Authority when compensation is being determined.
Requiring Body
Section 3(zb) defines Requiring Body to mean a company, a body corporate, an institution, or any other organisation or person for whom land is to be acquired by the appropriate Government, and includes the appropriate Government where land is acquired for its own use or for subsequent transfer by lease, licence or otherwise for a public purpose.
Local Authority
Section 3(s) defines local authority to include a town planning authority, Panchayat as defined in Article 243 of the Constitution, Municipality as defined in Article 243P, and other authorities specified by the statutory definition.
Who Bears the Acquisition Cost?
Sub-section (1) places the financial burden of the charges incidental to acquisition on the relevant local authority fund or Requiring Body where the Act is put in force for acquisition at its cost. The provision therefore links responsibility for acquisition charges to the entity for whose funded acquisition the statutory process is being used.
Right to Appear and Adduce Evidence
Under sub-section (2), the concerned local authority or Requiring Body may appear in proceedings before the Collector or the Authority and may produce evidence for determining the amount of compensation. This permits participation on the compensation question where that entity is bearing the acquisition cost.
Restriction on Reference under Section 64
The proviso to Section 95(2) expressly states that the local authority or Requiring Body is not entitled to demand a reference to the Authority under Section 64. Section 64 deals with reference to the Authority at the instance of a person interested who has not accepted the award, subject to the statutory conditions contained in that provision.
Practical Effect of Section 95
- The acquisition may be financed from a fund controlled or managed by a local authority or by a Requiring Body.
- Charges incidental to that acquisition are borne from or by the relevant fund or Requiring Body.
- The local authority or Requiring Body may participate before the Collector or Authority on the amount of compensation.
- It may adduce evidence relevant to compensation.
- It cannot itself demand a reference under Section 64 merely by virtue of Section 95.
Official Statutory Sources
The Department of Land Resources confirms that the RFCTLARR Act, 2013 was enacted on 26 September 2013 and came into force on 1 January 2014. The central legislation, rules and related official materials can be checked through the Department of Land Resources - Acts, Rules and Policies and the India Code portal.