URGENCY CLAUSE IN

LAND ACQUISITION ACT,

1894
Land Laws Presentation

ABHIJEET TALWAR
201202
 Section 17- Special Powers of appropriate Government or
Collector in cases of Urgency
Government can take possession of any land needed for public
purpose by way of a fifteen days notice published as inSection
9(1). Such land vests with the Government free from all
encumbrances.
applies to all types of land
 Section 17(2)- states few scenarios which constitute as urgency

1. owing to sudden changes in the channel of any navigable river or any unforeseen
emergency
2. Railway Administration to acquire land for the maintenance of traffic etc
3. For the purpose of any library or an educational institution
4. For the construction, extension or improvement of:
any building or other structure in any village for the common use of inhabitants of such village
any go down
any dwelling-house for the poor
any irrigation tank, irrigation or drainage channel or any well
any road
5.The Collector shall not take possession of any building or part of a building
under this sub-section without a 48 hour notice
 The Bihar government had initiated steps for acquiring tracts
of lands in Mouza Sansarpur and Hardas Chak. The
notifications had simultaneously excluded the provisions of
section 5Aof L.A. act from applying to the acquired lands. Land
owners filed objections to these notifications under section 5A
on a consideration of which the Land Acquisition Officer had
stated that the notifications could not be continued with as the
Award has not been passed within stipulated time period.

LAXAMI DEVI VS STATE OF BIHAR &

OTHERS
 of high court of Patna directed that the Award for
compensation must be made within 4 months. No Award was
passed by the State even after court attained finality. The land
owner contended before the Apex Court that the inconvertible
position that portions of the land have remained unutilized for
decades is clearly indicative of the fact that they are not
required by the state anymore.
 The Court held that The Appellants herein are being denied
just and fair compensation for their land in proceedings which
commenced in 1987, despite the directions of High Court
passed as early as in 1988 to pass an award within 4 months.
The Bench cleared up that where the landowners don't assault
the obtaining, it might be interested in them to look for a
mandamus for instalment to them, after a sensible period, of
the rest of the pay, which will immediately transform from a
mere estimation to the actual compensation for the
expropriation.
 This is the most scrutinized area of the Law. The statement
never genuinely characterizes what constitutes an earnest
need and abandons it to the attentiveness of the obtaining
specialist. Therefore, all acquisitions under the Act conjure the
criticalness statement. This outcome in the entire
dispossession of the land without even the token fulfillment of
the procedures recorded under the Act.