Mumbai: In an order that may set back the aspirations of landowners in the state, the Bombay high court has held that the compensatory provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR) will not apply to land acquired under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act.
The compensatory provisions of RFCTLARR Act stipulate that the authorities can pay increased compensation for the land acquired. However, no changes were made in the MRTP Act after the RFCTLARR Act was enacted, hence compensation under MRTP will be as per the provision of the Act, which is meagre.
A bench comprising chief justice (CJ) Dr Manjula Chellur and justices N.M. Jamdar and G.S. Kulkarni was hearing a bunch of writ petitions against land acquisition procedures undertaken by various authorities in different parts of the state under the MRTP Act for planned works of development.
The acquisitions included private as well as agricultural land in the city. The petitioners claimed that they should be compensated as per the new provisions under the RFCTLARR Act but the state refuted saying that MRTP was a code in itself and hence the provision of the new Act could not be applied.
Considering the issue to be of paramount importance, the CJ formed a full bench and invited all petitioners and authorities to submit their contentions.
The HC also invited senior counsels Aspi Chinoy and Janak Dwarkadas to assist the court as Amicus Curiae in the cases. The court referred to the order passed by the Supreme Court in the Girnar Traders (3) vs State of Maharashtra in 2010 to decide on the current petitions.
The court held that as the Girnar Traders order specified that provisions of the Land Acquisition Act with regards to time lapsing and compensation could not be applied to lands acquired under MRTP Act, hence the petitioners claim for increased compensation and lapsing of reservation under the RFCTLARR Act could not be applied on their lands and properties.
