Land owners protest acquisition under old Act

Delhi/NCR
Owners of 363 acres prime land in Pataudi are unhappy as the Manohar Lal Khattar government has gone ahead with the Bhupinder Singh Hooda regime's move to acquire their land under Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Around 300 land owners were sent notices under Section 4 of the law expressing the intent to take over the land by the Hooda government under this law, just a day before the new land acquisition act came into force.

According to the land owners, during the assembly election campaign, many BJP leaders had promised them their party would only go ahead with the proposed acquisition under the new law, which protects their rights better.

But when they received notices under Section 6 of the old law issued on January 2, they were taken aback. "The Section 6 notice is a step ahead of Section 4 notice. We met chief minister Khattar to register our protest. He gave us time, but no commitment," said one of the affected land owners.

The new law, the land owners said, will make them eligible for compensation of around Rs 2 crore per acre and 20% of the developed land. On the other hand, the British-era law granted nearly half of the compensation and no rights in developed land whatsoever.

"We voted out the Hooda government because it was unfairly trying to acquire our land," said Mahender Singh, a land owner in Janaula village. "The government initiated land acquisition under a law which was due to be replaced the very next day. We got notices dated December 31, 2013 whereas the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 came into effect on January 1, 2014. The Hooda government didn't even issue any newspaper advertisements while issuing Section 4 notices. Later, we learned through an RTI application that a newspaper advertisement was released on September 5, 2014," Singh added.

The 363 acres of land are spread across four villages. "CM Khattar had told the media that no land would be acquired without locals' consent. In this case, panchayats of all four villages have met twice and officially objected the acquisition attempt. Why have we received the section 6 notices now?" said Satender Singh, a landowner from Pataudi village.

On January 4, the panchayat met and decided to appeal to the Gurgaon MP and a minister in Narendra Modi government, Rao Inderjit Singh, for help. "If he also sends us back, we will knock on the door of the high court," said a landowner.

When contacted, Inderjit Singh told TOI, "The acquisition will not be withdrawn as the process has already started. The state will develop residential sectors in this area. As far as the issue of Section 4 notices on the last day is concerned, it was legally tenable. There was nothing wrong."

Source:http://content.magicbricks.com/industry-news/delhi-ncr-real-estate-news/land-owners-protest-acquisition-under-old-act/79929.html