The process of Land Acquisition Law occurs when a person becomes the owner of a piece of property. The State may purchase land from the general public for a public purpose or for business use. The process of purchasing the property is necessary for commercial, governmental, and public usage, as well as calculating the compensation due as a result of the acquisition.

Land Acquisition Law Practice in Pakistan

The regulations established for determining compensation, as interpreted by judicial decrees issued over time, demonstrate the lawmakers’ concern that those who have lost property should be adequately compensated in the sense that they should receive gold for gold and not copper for gold.

The Land Acquisition Law Act of 1894 addresses the State’s acquisition of land in Pakistan for a company, a public purpose, or for a specific time. The Land Acquisition Act outlines the process for the government and businesses to purchase land for commercial and public uses.

How the Government Acquires Land

In the event that any Provincial Government determines that land in a specific area is necessary for a public purpose, a notice to that effect must be published in the official gazette. The details of the land required to define and identify it need not be specified in a notification made under the Act. An unclear, ambiguous, and uncertain notice cannot be considered legitimate.

A notification serves just to allow the authorities to conduct a preliminary inquiry to determine if the land they want to acquire is appropriate for the use for which it is intended. The notice is adequate if it only states that the property is required for a public purpose without listing its boundaries or cadastral figures.

The goal of the notice’s service of substance is to allow interested parties to submit objections in accordance with Section 5(a) of the Act, which grants them significant rights. The notification is intended to make landowners aware and vigilant. The notice must be posted, and copies must be displayed in prominent locations on the property to be purchased or in the village where the property is located. In rare cases and circumstances, the concerned agency may continue or discontinue further action after the publication of such notice.

An announcement of a recital under section 6 is a declaration that conclusively proves that land was necessary for a company or for a public use. In such circumstances, taking possession of property already held by the Government would be considered an acquisition under the Land Acquisition Act of 1894.

Marking and Measuring Land

Following the notice procedure, the Collector/Revenue Officer will then mark the land. He shall also have it measured, and if no plan has been made thereof, a plan shall be made of the same.

Under Section 9, the Collector/Revenue Officer finds those who are interested and lets them present objections or compensation claims. This offers specific people the chance to declare their interest in the property by issuing a personal notice to them in the neighbourhood and a public notice.

• The land’s real size.
• The amount of payment he believes the land should be entitled to; and
• The fair distribution of the aforementioned compensation to all individuals who are known or thought to have an interest in the property, regardless of whether or not they have presented their claims before him; and
• According to him, the following costs should be permitted to anyone who is determined to be eligible for compensation and who is not eligible for the additional 15% of the sum specified in subsection (2) of section 23 as having actually and reasonably incurred by such person in preparing his claim and presenting his case before the Collector/ Revenue Officer:
  
  

The Revenue Officer/Collector may disallow, in whole or in part, any costs if he judges that the claim made by such person is excessive. (As stated previously, only Karachi city is subject to clause (iv).)

Taking Possession of Land

Awards by the Collector/Revenue Officer are final and binding between the parties involved, except where a court modifies or reverses them.

The Collector may take possession of the property after making an award, at which point it becomes completely vested in the Government and is free of any liens.

Urgent Land Acquisition Process

The regulations addressing this procedure are only applicable in emergencies.

The acquiring authority must use its mind to determine whether the urgency provision should be used if land is purchased in an emergency.

In an emergency, the procedure remains the same with the exception of the notice required by Section 5-A. If the Government is convinced of the urgency, it has the right to issue an order to halt the enforcement of Section 5-A (i. e., hearing of objections after the issue of notification within 30 days). In cases of urgency, the 30 days will be excluded; the process will remain the same. The urgent procedure does not apply to farmed land. All lands are subject to the urgency procedure, not just waste or arable land.

Land Acquisition for Businesses

The method for obtaining land for businesses is quite straightforward. Naturally, the first action for a business seeking to purchase land under the Land Acquisition Act is to submit an application to the Collector, including details about the lands it wants to buy and the work it plans to do on them, along with an explanation of how the work will benefit the community. According to the report of the Collector, if the Provincial Government is convinced that the work is apparently so, a notice will be published, inviting objections; otherwise, the Provincial Government may order an investigation to be conducted in accordance with the unique process established for it.

Companies must follow a government-directed inquiry and enter an agreement outlining payment and land usage. The official Gazette will print every agreement of this kind as soon as it is signed.

Acquisition of land for Railway Companies

The same procedure will be followed as with Companies if land is acquired for the Railway Company’s usage, except the method used to demonstrate the agreement with the Railway Companies; Its existence can be demonstrated by submitting a hard copy of the agreement printed at the direction of the government.

Temporary Land Occupation

Unlike the permanent acquisition of land overall, this sort deals with the temporary occupation of waste or arable land. The Provincial Government may instruct the Collector to obtain the temporary possession and usage of such waste or arable land if it is necessary for any public purpose or for a business.

The Collector is obligated to publish a public notice outlining the nature of the directive to be issued and, in general, must abide by that legislative provision; however, it does not grant owners or anybody with an interest in land any rights because the publication of such notice does not require such individuals to take any specific action. In every instance, a written agreement seems to be required.

Court References & Disputes

The dispute mentioned in Section 18 concerns the area, the amount of compensation, or how it should be divided among the parties involved. This reference is solely restricted to the aforementioned subjects. Under Sections 18 and 30 of the Act, the legislation establishes two categories of references. The two sections have very different goals and scopes. If an individual has not accepted the award and follows the requirements of the section, they have an absolute right to petition the court for a reference.

The Collector/Revenue Officer has the authority to make the reference under section 30 on his own initiative, but it is limited to situations in which there is an issue of ownership or the disagreement centres on the distribution of the compensation funds.

The conditions are: (1) a written application to the Collector (2) by an interested party who had not accepted the award (3) stating the basis for the objection, whether it be to the measurement of the land, the amount of compensation, the recipients of the compensation money, or the division of the compensation money among the parties involved (4) within the allotted time frame. Adherence to these formalities is essential, and it is a prerequisite for using the authority of referral granted by the section.

Factors Affecting Land Compensation

The Collector/Revenue Officer must take into account specific factors while deciding the sum of compensation to be given for property acquired under the Land Acquisition Law, according to the statute. They are like this:

1) The land’s market worth at the time the notice was published; (2) any harm caused to the individual with an interest in the land as a result of the Collector seizing any standing crops or trees that may be on the land at that time; (3) any harm caused to the person interested at the time the Collector acquired ownership of the land as a result of the separation of that property from the rest of his holdings; (4) any harm that the person with an interest may have suffered as a result of the Collector’s takeover of the land injuriously affecting his other movable or immovable property, or his income, in any other way;

(5) the fair costs, if any, associated with the change in residence or place of business that the individual interested is forced to make as a result of the Collector’s purchase of the land; and (6) any actual damages resulting from a reduction in the land’s revenues between the date the declaration was made public and the time the Collector took ownership of the property.

Government Withdrawal from Acquisition

Only the government has the right to withdraw from any land acquisition procedure where ownership has not yet been acquired. The Secretary of the Revenue Department has the authority to issue an order on behalf of the Government for the acquisition. The only time a withdrawal occurs is prior to the party that gains ownership of it taking possession.

Legal Notices & Proceedings

The remedy for a person who has been harmed in this way is to bring an action or suit, as well as seek compensation under the statute that has been broken if the Legislature has granted statutory power to a person or group of people for building works, and that power has been exceeded or abused.

Court Appeals in Land Acquisition

In summary, if no action was taken within a year of the first notice being published, the acquisition process would have ended in accordance with the regulations established by the Land Acquisition Act of 1894.

If you are facing land acquisition proceedings or need assistance regarding compensation, objections, or court references, our legal team can provide professional guidance under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Contact SARDAR KHAN & CO for legal consultation.