Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (Definitions and Features):

Land Acquisition in India refers to the process by which the union or the state
government in India acquires private land for the purpose of industrialization,
development, of infrastructural facilities or urbanization of the private land, and
provides compensation to affected land owners and their rehabilitation and
resettlement.
Definitions:
In this Act, unless there is something repugnant in the subject or context:
1.Land : “Land” includes benefits to arise out of land, and things attached to the
earth or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth.
2.Local Authority: “Local Authority” includes a town planning authority (by
whatever name called) set up under any law for the time being in force.
3.Person Interested: “person interested” includes all persons claiming an interest
in compensation to be made on account of the acquisition of land under this Act;
and a person shall be deemed to be interested in land if he is interested in an
easement affecting the land.
4.Collector : “Collector” means the Collector of a district, and includes a Deputy
Commissioner and any officer specially appointed by the [appropriate
Government] to perform the functions of a Collector under this Act.
7.Company:
a.A Company as defined in section 3 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956),
other than a Government company in point no. 5.
b.Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860), or
under any corresponding law for the time being in force in a State, other than a
society referred to in point no. 5.
c.A Co-operative society within the meaning of any law relating to co-operative
societies for the time being in force in any State, other than a co-operative society
referred to in point no. 5.
8.Appropriate Government : “Appropriate Government” means, in relating to
acquisition of land for the purposes of the Union, the Central Government, and, in
relation to acquisition of land for any other purposes, the State Government.
9.Public Purpose: “Public Purpose” includes
i.The provision of village-sites, or the extension, planned development or
improvement of existing village-sites.
ii.The provision of land for town or rural planning.
iii.The provision of land for planned development of land from public funds in
pursuance of any scheme or policy of Government and subsequent disposal thereof
in whole or in part by lease, assignment or outright sale with the object of securing
further development as planned.
iv.The provision of land for a corporation owned or controlled by the State.
v.The provision of land for residential purposes to the poor or landless or to
persons residing in areas affected by natural calamities, or to persons displaced or
affected by reason of the implementation of any scheme undertaken by
Government, any local authority or a corporation owned or controlled by the State.
vi.The provision of land for carrying out any educational, housing, health or slum
clearance scheme sponsored by Government or by any authority established by
Government for carrying out any such scheme, or with the prior approval of the
appropriate Government, by a local authority, or a society registered under the
Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860), or under any corresponding law for
the time being in force in a state, or a co-operative society within the meaning of
any law relating to co-operative societies for the time being in force in any State.
vii.The provision of land for any other scheme of development sponsored by
Government or with the prior approval of the appropriate Government, by a local
authority.
viii.he provision of any premises or building for locating a public office, but does
not include acquisition of land for companies.

SCOPE: Prior to 1984, the Land Acquisition Act 1894 was not applicable to the
states of Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Kerala and Nagaland, which had their
own self-contained Land Acquisition Acts. In 1984, the Land Acquisition
(Amendment) Act was passed. The extent of its applicability was now extended to
the whole of India with the sole exception of Jammu and Kashmir. This Unit will
take us through the various steps to be taken by the Government to acquire land
under the Land Acquisition Act 1894 (LAAct). The Land Acquisition Act was
amended in 1984 by the Central Government. The object of carrying out this
amendment was to remove the various bottlenecks inherent in the original act and
thereby increasing its applicable efficiency. The changes introduced in the Land
Acquisition (Amendment) Act of 1984 served to reduce the unnecessary delays
which occurred during the entire process of acquiring land and also awarded
compensation to the persons interested’ (refer to sub-section 6.3.2 of the Unit for
the definition) on a much higher and realistic basis. The definition of ‘public
purpose’ has also been suitably expanded (refer to subsection 5.3.4 of the Unit)
thus enhancing its clarity.
Land – Section 3 (a) of LA Act The word ‘land’ is not comprehensively defined in
the Land Acquisition Act of 1894. Section 3(a) of the Act merely gives examples
of what ‘land’ includes. In law, the word ‘land’ is understood to refer to: • ground,
soil, earth, woods, forests, lakes, ponds along with all that is on such land e.g.
buildings; or below it e.g. minerals.
• all rights/ interests in such land, such as i) right to collect rents and profits of the
land ii) a right to collect lac from trees iii) right of way iv) the right of a tenant to
reside in the house which he has leased. These are limited rights or interests in the
land. Such limited rights or interests cannot be acquired without first acquiring the
land from which such rights arise. While estimating the value of any land, the
Government must also take into consideration the value of such limited
rights/interests in the land
According to section 3(a) of LA Act, ‘land’ includes the following elements:
• Benefits to arise out of land e.g. a right to collect fruit from fruit trees growing on
the land of another person, a right of fishery
• Things attached to the earth. This includes things rooted in the earth as in the case
of shrubs or trees, and things embedded in the earth as in the case of walls or
buildings
• Things permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth e.g. boilers fixed in
the brickwork and engines fixed by bolts and nuts to the premises. For purposes of
compensation under section 23(1) of the Act, all these have to be taken into
consideration for assessing the market value of land to be acquired.
6.5.2 Person Interested – Section 3 (b) of LAAct Only those who fall into the
category of ‘persons interested’ as defined in the Land Acquisition Act of 1894,
are entitled to object to the acquisition of their land by the Government and to
receive compensation for it. The definition is not comprehensive but we can gather
from the case law on the subject that to be considered a ‘person interested’ under
the Act, certain conditions have to be fulfilled.
• One should have an interest in the land, which is being acquired. Such an interest
may be an absolute one such as that of an owner or a limited one such as that of a
tenant.
• One should have or claim to have an interest in the compensation, which is to be
awarded for the land.
One should be the holder of an easement over the land, which is being acquired.
An easement is a right enjoyed by a landowner to benefit from nearby land. An
easement is always attached to some land and is exercised by an individual in his
capacity as owner of such land. Often easement takes the form of rights of way i.e.
a right to pass over another person’s land.

A very grave shortcoming of this definition of ‘person interested’ is that it ignores

landless labourers and artisans who form an integral part of the social and
economic fabric of the village community (see Figure 6.2). They are neither
entitled to voice their objections to the acquisition nor receive any compensation
on the ground of loss of earnings.
Similarly, an adult woman who is either unmarried or divorced and who does not
hold any land in her own right, is also not considered a ‘person interested’.
6.5.3 Public Purpose – Section 3 (f) of LA Act Under the Land Acquisition Act of
1894, land can be acquired when it is needed either for a public purpose or for a
company. Broadly speaking, the expression ‘public purpose’ means a purpose,
which is in the general interest of the community as opposed to the particular
interest of individuals.
The Land Acquisition Act of 1894 only states what ‘public purpose’ includes. It
does not define the term exhaustively. The content of the term ‘public purpose’ has
been substantially expanded by the Amendment Act of 1984. It now includes a
longer list of objects that are to be regarded as public purpose. Some of these are as
given below:
i) Provision of land for a corporation owned or controlled by the State: A body
corporate, established under an Act of Parliament such as the following, are
instances of corporations owned or controlled by the State.
• Fertiliser Corporation
• The State Trading Corporation
• A co-operative society in which 51 per cent or more of the paid-up share capital
is held by the Government
• A registered society administered/ established by the Government. Prior to the
insertion of this provision by the Amendment Act of 1984, these corporations were
treated like other companies. They therefore had to satisfy the two preconditions
that all companies are required to fulfil before the provisions of the LA Act can be
used to acquire land for them. See sub sections 39 to 41 of LA Act. By specially
providing that acquisition of land for such corporations is to be regarded as a
public purpose, the need to satisfy these two requirements has been dispensed with.
It has now become much simpler for the Government to acquire land for such
corporations.
This provision is capable of being misused because it does not specify the purpose
for which land can be acquired for such a corporation under the LA Act. This has
been left to the discretion of the Government. ii) Provision of land for (residential
purpose) the poor, the landless and those whose homes are affected by calamities
such as floods and earthquakes. iii) Provision of land to persons affected or
displaced by reason of the implementation of any scheme undertaken by the
Government, any local authority or a State owned or controlled corporation. There
is no doubt that the concept of ‘public purpose’ varies with the times, the State of
the society and its needs. It cannot be fixed and unalterable because what may
today be regarded as a public purpose may not necessarily have been so in the past
and nor may it be so in the future. It is therefore not possible to give an exhaustive
list of ‘public purpose’ in the LA Act. This discretion must vest in the
Government. However, this does not mean that such discretion should be grossly
abused to subserve the purpose of the Government

Enactment date: 1/03/1894

The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 was a law passed by the Imperial Legislative
Council,[11] that governed the process of land acquisition in India until 2013 . It
allows the acquisition of land for some public purpose by a government agency
from individual landowners after paying a government-determined compensation
to cover losses incurred by landowners from surrendering their land to the agency.
In India, a new Act, The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, replaced this law.