Sections 15A, 16 and 17 of the Land Acquisition Act 1894
Sections 15A, 16 and 17 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 dealt respectively with the appropriate Government's supervisory power to call for records, the Collector's power to take possession after an award, and special powers for taking possession in cases of urgency. This article explains these provisions as they stood under the 1894 Act before the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 came into force.
Section 15A - Power to call for records, etc.
Meaning: Section 15A gave the appropriate Government a revisional and supervisory power over acquisition proceedings before the Collector made an award under Section 11. Its purpose was to enable the Government to examine the legality or propriety of a finding or order and the regularity of the proceedings.
The appropriate Government could, at any time before the award under Section 11, call for the record of proceedings, whether by way of inquiry or otherwise, to satisfy itself regarding the legality or propriety of a finding or order or the regularity of the proceedings. It could then pass an appropriate order or issue directions.
The proviso protected affected persons by requiring a reasonable opportunity of being heard before any prejudicial order or direction was passed or issued.
Section 16 - Power to take possession
Meaning: Section 16 dealt with the ordinary consequence of an award under Section 11. Once the Collector had made the award, the Collector could take possession of the acquired land.
On possession being taken after the award, the land vested absolutely in the Government free from all encumbrances.
This provision should be distinguished from Section 17, which created an exceptional urgency mechanism permitting possession in specified circumstances even before an award had been made.
Section 17 - Special powers in cases of urgency
Meaning: Section 17 contained the urgency provisions of the 1894 Act. It permitted accelerated possession where the statutory conditions were met and the appropriate Government issued the required direction.
Section 17(1) - Urgent possession before award
In cases of urgency, where the appropriate Government so directed, the Collector could take possession even though an award had not yet been made, after expiry of fifteen days from publication of the notice under Section 9(1). Upon possession, the land vested absolutely in the Government free from all encumbrances.
Section 17(2) - Immediate possession in specified emergencies
Section 17(2) addressed specified situations requiring immediate possession, including emergencies connected with railway traffic and certain public systems or structures such as irrigation, water supply, drainage, road communication or electricity, subject to the statutory conditions and previous sanction of the appropriate Government.
For a building or part of a building, the proviso required at least forty-eight hours' notice to the occupier, or such longer notice as was reasonably sufficient to allow removal of movable property without unnecessary inconvenience.
Section 17(3) - Compensation for crops, trees and sudden dispossession
Where possession was taken under Section 17(1) or 17(2), the Collector was required at the time of taking possession to offer compensation for standing crops and trees and for other compensable damage caused by sudden dispossession. If the offer was not accepted, those amounts were to be dealt with in the compensation award in accordance with the Act.
Section 17(3A) and 17(3B) - Payment before urgency possession
Section 17(3A): Before taking possession under Section 17(1) or 17(2), the Collector was required, without prejudice to Section 17(3), to tender payment of eighty percent of the compensation for the land as estimated by the Collector to the persons interested and entitled to it, and to pay that amount unless prevented by a contingency referred to in Section 31(2).
Section 17(3B): An amount paid or deposited under Section 17(3A) had to be taken into account when determining the compensation to be tendered under Section 31. The provision also dealt with recovery of an excess payment where the amount paid or deposited exceeded the eventual award and was not refunded within the statutory period.
Section 17(4) - Power to dispense with Section 5A
Meaning: Where the appropriate Government considered that land fell within Section 17(1) or 17(2), Section 17(4) empowered it to direct that Section 5A would not apply. Section 5A ordinarily provided the statutory opportunity to object to the acquisition following the preliminary notification under Section 4.
Position after the 2013 Act
The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 came into force on 1 January 2014 and repealed the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 subject to statutory savings. Accordingly, Sections 15A, 16 and 17 of the 1894 Act are primarily relevant when examining the historical statutory regime and matters in which the repealed enactment continues to be relevant because of applicable saving or transitional provisions.