The Land Acquisition (Amendment and Validation) Act, 1967
Parliament enacted The Land Acquisition (Amendment and Validation) Act, 1967, Act No. 13 of 1967, dated 12 April 1967, to validate certain acquisitions under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and to replace the Land Acquisition (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance, 1967. The amendments originally contained in sections 2 and 3 were omitted by the Repealing and Amending Act, 1974, with effect from 20 December 1974, while the validation, interest, repeal and saving provisions remain in the supplied text.
What the Act does
The Land Acquisition (Amendment and Validation) Act, 1967 protects certain land acquisitions from being treated as invalid because of specified procedural arrangements under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. It applies despite a court judgment, decree or order to the contrary.
The Act also repeals the Land Acquisition (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance, 1967. Actions taken under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, as amended by that Ordinance, are treated as actions under the Act, as if the Act had come into force on 20 January 1967.
Acquisitions covered
The validation provisions concern acquisitions made, or based on an initial notification published, before the commencement of the Land Acquisition (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance, 1967.
An acquisition or connected step is not invalid merely because:
- More than one Collector performed the Collector's functions for land covered by the same initial notification.
- More than one report was made for all or different parts of the land covered by the same notification.
- More than one declaration was made for different parcels covered by the same notification.
Connected steps include orders, agreements and published notifications. Acquisitions based on an earlier initial notification could also continue after the Ordinance commenced, subject to the stated time limit.
Time limit and interest
The Land Acquisition (Amendment and Validation) Act, 1967 prevents a declaration from being made more than two years after commencement of the Ordinance where the initial land notification was published before that commencement.
Where a declaration was made more than three years after publication of the initial notification, simple interest at six per cent per year must be paid on the market value determined under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Interest runs from the end of that three year period until the Collector tenders payment of the awarded compensation.
No interest is payable for a period when acquisition proceedings were held up by a court stay or injunction. The interest provision also does not apply where compensation had already been paid to interested persons before commencement of the Act.
Who may be affected
The Land Acquisition (Amendment and Validation) Act, 1967 may affect owners and other interested persons whose land was covered by the relevant older acquisition notifications. It may also matter when reviewing whether an older acquisition can be challenged solely because multiple Collectors, reports or declarations were involved.
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Common questions
Can an old acquisition be invalid only because more than one Collector handled it?
No. For acquisitions covered by the Act, the involvement of one or more Collectors under the same initial notification does not by itself make the acquisition invalid.
Does the Act allow multiple declarations for different parcels under one notification?
Yes. A covered acquisition is not invalid merely because separate declarations were made for different parcels of land covered by the same initial notification.
When is interest payable because of delay in the declaration?
For a covered acquisition, simple interest at six per cent per year is payable when the declaration was made more than three years after publication of the initial notification. It runs from the end of those three years until the Collector tenders the compensation payment, subject to the exclusions stated in the Act.
What happened to the 1967 Ordinance?
The Land Acquisition (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance, 1967 was repealed. Actions already taken under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, as amended by the Ordinance, are treated as taken under the Act as if it had come into force on 20 January 1967.
