Land Acquisition Act, 1953

Section 1

This Act may be called the Land Acquisition (Bombay Amendment)

Act, 1953.

Section 2

In section 3 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as the to as the said Act), (1) in clause (d), the following shall be added at the end, namely : "and shall, in relation to any proceedings under this Act, include the

Court of a Civil Judge (Senior Division) to which the principal Civil
Court may transfer any such proceedings;";
(2) in clause (f),

(1) after the word "includes" the brackets and figure "(1)" shall be

inserted;
(2) after the words "such provision" the following shall be inserted,
(2) the acquisition of land for purposes of the development of areas from public revenues or some fund controlled or managed by a local authority and subsequent disposal thereof in whole or in part by lease, assignment or sale, with the object of securing further development;"

Section 3

To section 11 of the said Act, the following proviso shall be added,

namely :

"Provided that, no such award shall be made by the Collector

without the previous approval of the State Government or such
officer as the State Government may appoint in this behalf."
NOTES
Objects and Reasons.- Under the proviso to section 11 of the Land
Acquisition Act, 1894, the Collector was not competent to declare
any award unless it was approved by Government or an officer
appointed by Government in that behalf. This procedure was found
t o cause delay in the declaration of the award and payment of
compensation. This legislation aimed to cut out such delays by
dispensing with the necessity of amendment in this section.
Important provisions.- The Act amends the proviso to section 11 of
the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, so as to enable the Collector to
make an award, even without the previous approval of the State
Government or the officer appointed by Government in this behalf,
in cases where the amount awarded is less than such amount as
the State Government may specify

Section 4

In section 12 of the said Act - (1) in sub-section (1), after the words "and shall" , the words,

figures and letter "subject to the provisions of section 15A and"
shall be inserted;
(2) in sub-section (2), after the word "award", where it occurs for
the first time, the words, figures and letter "or the amendment
thereof made under section 12A" shall be inserted; and after the
word "award", where it occurs for the second time, the words "or
amendment" shall be inserted

Section 5

After section 12 of the said Act, the following section shall be

inserted, namely :

"12A. Amendment of award.-(1) Any clerical or arithmetical mistake

in an award or errors arising therein from accidental slips or
omission may, at any time not later than six months from the date
of the award, be corrected by the Collector either on his own
motion or on the application of a person interested and the award
so corrected shall be deemed to have been amended accordingly.
(2) If the award so amended discloses any overpayment, the
Collector shall, either immediately after the amendment of the
award or after the expiry of the time allowed to make a reference
to the Court from the amendment of the award, issue a notice to a
person to whom overpayment was made that if the amount
overpaid is not paid back to the State Government within one
month after receipt of the notice, the amount overpaid shall be
recovered as an arrear of land revenue and after the expiry of the
time stated in the notice the amount shall so recoverable."

Section 6

After section 15 of the said Act, the following section shall be

inserted, namely
"15A. Power of State Government to call for proceedings and pass
orders thereon.- The State Government may, at any time before an
award is made by the Collector under section 11, call for and
examine the record of any order passed by the Collector or of any
inquiry or proceedings of the Collector, for the purpose of satisfying
itself as to the legality or propriety of any order passed and as to
the regularity of such proceedings. If, in any case, it shall appear to
the State Government that any order or proceedings so called for
should be modified, annulled, or reversed, it may pass such order
thereon as it deems fit.  Power of State Government.- Section 15-A of the Act clearly relates
to the power of the Government to refuse any order or proceeding;
it 

does not expressly enjoin that the objector should be heard

personally. Hence, there is no violation of any principle of natural
justice in not giving an opportunity of hearing to the objector by
the Government.- Madaiah Seddalingaiah v. State of Mysore, AIR
1972 Mys. 9 : 1971(2) Mys. L. J. 312

Section 7

In section 17 of the said Act, in sub-section (2), after the words

"access to any such station", the following words shall be inserted,
namely ;

"or whenever owing to a like emergency or owing to breaches or

other unforeseen events causing damage to roads, rivers, channels
or tanks, it becomes necessary for the State Government to acquire
t h e immediate possession of any land for the purpose of
maintaining road communication or irrigation or water supply
service, as the case may be,"

Section 8

In section 18 of the said Act, after the word "award", where it

occurs for the first time, the words "or the amendment thereof"
shall be inserted; and after the said word, wherever it occurs
thereafter, the words "or the amendment" shall be inserted.

Section 9

In section 27 of the said Act, in sub-section (2), after the words

"award of the Collector", the words "or the amendment thereof"
shall be inserted

Section 10

In section 35 of the said Act, (1) after sub-section (1), the following sub-section shall be

inserted, namely :

"(1A) Before issuing a direction under sub-section (1) the State

Government may require the Collector to submit 

(a) a plan of the land which is needed for occupation and use; and

(b) an estimate of the compensation that would be payable under
sub-section (2) and upon the issue of such a requisition the Collector shall cause
public notice of the substance of the requisition to be given at
convenient places in the locality in which the land is situated.
(1B) After the issue of such notice, it shall be lawful for any officer
either generally or specially authorised by the Collector in this
behalf, and for his servants and workmen to exercise the powers
conferred by sub-section (2) of section 4.
(1C) The officer authorised under sub-section (1B) shall at the time
of his entry pay or tender payment for all necessary damage to be
done as aforesaid, and, in the case of dispute as to the sufficiency
of the amount so paid or tendered, he shall at once refer the
dispute to the decision of the Collector and such decision shall be
final;";
(2) in sub-section (2), for the words "The Collector shall thereupon"
the words "Upon the issue of a direction under sub-section (1) the
Collector shall" shall be substituted

Section 11

In section 46 of the said Act, for the words and figures "or section

8" the words and figures "section 8 or section 35" and for the
words, figures and letter "section 3A or section 4" the words,
figures and letter "section 3A, section 4 or section 35" shall be
substituted