Land acquisition: Centre seeks Constitution Bench

Land acquisition: Centre seeks Constitution Bench

Polity

News: Supreme Court Chief Justice agreed to set up a Constitution Bench for expeditious disposal of issues relating to amendments in the Land Acquisition Act.

Facts:

• The 2013 Act mandates that 70% of the affected land owners should consent to the acquisition of land for a public private participation (PPP) project.
• Some states, through amendment in the 2013 law, allowed land acquisitions without social impact assessment, participation of representative local bodies in social impact assessment study, expert appraisal processes, public hearing, objections.
• Petitions were filed by activists in courts alleging that the amendments violate the “core spirit” of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act of 2013.
• Last year, the court issued notice to Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Jharkhand on the amendments to their States’ land acquisition laws which stated that consent of farmers or land owners was not required before their land was acquired for projects like industrial corridors, expressways, highways, etc.