News Land Bill undergoes a change

Technoglitch

Core Member
upreme Court lawyer, Sanjay Hegde says the President’s approval will be needed for land laws of each state and those deviating from 2013 Land Bill, will need President's approval beforehand. Any conflict between the Centre and state on Land Bill will be resolved by the President, Hegde said. Sources told the channel that one of the proposed amendment is to drop the consent and social impact study clause. Another change is that no consent will be required for highway, defence and railway projects. It is anticipated that nearly 14 to 15 states will be drafting their own land laws once the new proposals are accepted.

Land Bill: Govt to allow states to draft own land laws - Moneycontrol.com
 

Technoglitch

Core Member
Who has the right to make laws on land acquisition?

According to the Constitution, land acquisition is in the concurrent list, which means both the Centre and the state governments have the right to make laws on how to acquire land and issues related to it, like compensation. Article 254 (2) of the Constitution says any state law which has received the assent of the President will be valid and will continue to stay in force even if it contradicts a central law. As the President consults the Union government on all issues, if the Union approves a state law, it will stay valid.

If that is the case, why was the Centre trying to impose a central law on the states?

It is possible that the Centre believed in matters relating to land acquisition, there should be one uniform law across India.

So, what will be in force now? The 2013 law on acquisition or the ordinance which superseded it? Where do the states stand?

The previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government passed a law. To make it more industry friendly, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government decided to amend it via an ordinance and later as a Bill. The ordinance is still in force. Until it lapses - that is when the government fails or decides not to repromulgate it - it will have legal validity. It is not clear whether the government wants to keep it in force or let it lapse. If it lapses, naturally the 2013 law will be in force. In the meantime, all actions taken under the ordinance have full legal validity.
States experiment with land laws | Business Standard News
 

IndianMascot

Core Member
So, they are amending it as per opposition. It was rumored that govt planning not to bring this bill in monsoon session.
 
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