Land Acquisition problem-some suggestions

Dear Sunita Narain ji 02-08-2008
This is with reference to your article on Daily South Asian News, titled “Land Acquisition, What is the solution ?”
It is true that what you have written is happening. It is also true that Land needs to be acquired by the Government. It is also true that our Constitution makers may have differentiated between Land & livelihood (although they did cover it under property another fundamental right then, which the Later on Politicians, aided & abetted by the highly pro-Government & anti people Judiciary, removed from the constitution,)although to the farming community i.e. about 75% of the Populace, Land means livelihood & thus Article-21 of the Constitution should come in to play in matters regarding Land Acquisition of Farmers but The Judiciary has failed abjectly to protect this Right & what is more, they are saying that Land is at most A property & now their is no Constitutional protection to it under the Fundamental Rights chapter & it is at best a legal Right. The higher Judiciary in India has totally overlooked the Article-13 of the constitution, the most important article & has shamelessly allowed the Government to trample upon the fundamental Rights of the people, even by declaring the most draconian legislations as being reasonable.
The Constitution has allowed the States free hand to make legislation about “Land”, keeping it in their list forgetting that any denial of the most profitable Use of Land by its owner or the Acquisition of it means acquisition of the very source of Livelihood of the majority & this being a fundamental Right, it “Land” should have never been kept in the States list. It is very disturbing to note that to a very large extent the so called environmentalists, including you have welcomed when the Union Government made the CRZ(Coastal Regulatory Zone) laws, which I think are the most draconian of Laws ever enacted aided and abetted by the Supreme Court, This law forces the owners of Land in CRZ areas to keep them un-built-upon & this means Acquisition by the State without paying any Compensation even. Then the various Urban Laws are also doing the same thing & curtailing profitable use of Urban Land by the owners, for decades & often for the entire lifetime of the owner although if the Government wishes to restrict such use beyond a reasonable limit then it should acquire the Land within a reasonable time i.e. within five years at the most from the date when the “first restriction regarding its Use is put in Place”. The idea behind the Urban Laws being only orderly growth of Cities /Urban areas& nothing beyond it. But the Urban Authorities have unreasonably encroached upon the fundamental right to livelihood of the Land owners & the Courts are aiding & abetting these Illegal Usurpation of the Rights.
Last but not the least it is also true that vast majority of the Land owners i.e. the Farmers are not being able to eek out any reasonable living out of their Land for the very simple reason that Land is very little & persons dependant on it are more. Therefore there is no denying the fact that in a majority of cases, the farmers are too happy to part with their Land but to a purchaser of their choice. What is more surprising is that in case of Acquisitions, the Government ends up paying more Compensation than the price on which the farmer sells his land, willingly to the private parties. The reason is the COBRAS that the Government has nourished in the shape of Collectors & other Land Acquisition Officers, who in their vested interests deliberately declare the Compensation at one tenth of the amount than the market value so that later on when the Villagers are forced to file Compensation claims with the tribunal, everybody can make merry (including the Village strongmen ,who finance these CLAIMS of the illiterate& poor farmers, for a very very very hefty share from the increased Compensation , the Advocates, the Tribunal Judges & the Land Acquisition Officers& Officials)at the cost of the farmer. These cases drag on for decades & decades & decades due to the anti farmer attitude of the Judiciary. That is why any Land Acquisition attempt leads to such violent protests.
The corruption prevailing in Courts, in Land Acquisition Compensation claims is quite apparent from the Observations made by the Allahabad High Court Bench in their judgment dated-05-03-2004 in the matter of Fiirst Appeal No.981 of 2002 (Agra Development Authority V/s State of U.P) and other connected appeals, the Observations are:-
“These facts disclose the scandalous state of affairs prevailing in the district courts of the U.P. and it is no wonder that the public is disgusted with this state of affairs which smacks of rampant corruption”………………………
“Let the Registrar of this Court place copy of this judgment before the Administrative Committee of the High Court for taking appropriate action against the concerned persons and Judicial officers who appear to be in collusion.”
The other reason is that a considerable percentage of rural poor are dependant on the Lands of others & by Acquisition, they get nothing & their entire families are uprooted. I have given detailed suggestions on the Land Acquisition Amendment Laws, which can be read on my Blog http://sharmarobby.wordpress.com/, in March/April 2007 posting & later on in another short letter to the group of ministers before whom the Land Acquisition Amendment bill-2007 is pending.
Thanks
Robby Sharma
865, Block-B, Panki Kanpur-208020
Mob-0-9235844258; 9415438326.
Email---sharmarobby@hotmail.com