Indore: Indore Development Authority got relief following Supreme Court’s judgement on Friday regarding issues concerning grant of compensation against land and lapse of proceedings under Section 24 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
The judgement was pronounced by a constitution bench of five judges comprising Justices Arun Mishra, Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, MR Shah and Ravindra Bhat. The judgement will impact land acquisitions made by different governments under the earlier law, that is, Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
Indore Development Authority CEO Vivek Shotriya said the order given by court states that if IDA has acquired someone’s land and deposited the money at collectorate but the landowner has not received the payment, then IDA or any respective development authority will be not be at fault and it will be declared that IDA has made the payment.
In the judgment, apart from order on compensation for land acquisition bill, it has been mentioned to pay the landowner only according to current guideline.
Indore Development Authority had filed a petition in Supreme Court against Pune Development Authority's decision. In 2014, a three-judge bench of Supreme Court comprising Justices RM Lodha, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph, in Pune Municipal Corporation judgement, held that even if the award of compensation has been made under 1894 Act, unless the compensation is paid to the land owners or deposited before the court, the land acquisition will lapse as provided in Section 24(2) of 2013 Act.
Deposit of compensation amount in the government treasury will not be sufficient to discharge the obligation, the court had said. “Against this judgement, IDA had filed a petition in which the court gave the verdict on Friday,” Shotriya said.
Besides, the petition was filed by Indore Development Authority in which land owners demanded compensation under Section 24/2 in urban areas twice and in rural areas four times but the court rejected it. This decision will provide relief to all development authorities and municipalities across the country, which has acquired land for development, IDA sources said.
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