Dear
Friends/Co-sailors,
The
Supreme Court of India has now said it in clear terms that fair compensation
for land acquired by government is farmer’s human right. Pasting below (at
bottom) a news published in Times of India with further details. My pick from
this would be the following:
Right to property is now recognized as a constitutional
right by Article 300A, which provides that "no person shall be deprived
of his property save by authority of law".
The bench pulled up Rajasthan government for not fulfilling
its promise of fair compensation to landowners whose properties were acquired
by the state in 2001. The state government had assured landowners allotment
of 15%
developed land near the acquired land but it resiled from the promise and
allotted them undeveloped land in a far off place.
Directing the state to allot developed land with all basic
facilities to owners, the bench said, "Right to property, though no longer
a fundamental right, is otherwise a zealous possession of which one cannot be
divested save by the authority of law as is enjoined by Article 300A of
the Constitution. Any callous inaction or apathy of the state and its
instrumentalities, in securing just compensation would amount to dereliction of
a constitutional duty.
Well,
that’s a powerful judgement. However, we
need more teetch to it. As far as small
farmers are concerned, we need to have at least the following, besides what the
2013 LA Act says:
Right
not to be evicted forcefully.
Right
to property in lieu of property.
Right
to own the businesses as legally mandated shareholders in businesses/projects
that are build in the lands acquired by them. This has to come with adequate state guaranteed safeguards.
We can
add more and discuss.
Thanks
and regards,
Ranjan
Panda
==============
The ToI
news as appeared @ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Fair-compensation-for-land-acquired-by-govt-is-farmers-human-right-SC/articleshow/50050793.cms?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=TOI
Fair compensation for land acquired by govt is farmer’s
human right: SC
Amit Anand Choudhary,TNN | Dec 5, 2015,
06.46
AM IST
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday said right to
property was part of human rights, and landowners had a right to fair
compensation for land acquired by the government.
"The right to property having been elevated to the status
of human rights, it is inherent in every individual, and thus has to be
venerably acknowledged and can, by no means, be belittled or trivialized by
adopting an unconcerned and nonchalant disposition by anyone, far less the
State, after compulsorily acquiring his land by invoking an expropriatory
legislative mechanism," a bench of Justices V Gopala Gowda and Amitava Roy
said.
The ruling in a case arising from the demand by a group of
farmers in Rajasthan for fair compensation for the land acquired from them by
the government marks a step towards elevation of right to property. Recognized
as a fundamental right by the framers of the Constitution, right to property
was done away with by the 44th amendment to the Constitution in 1978, in
what reflected the ethos which had reigned supreme until the 1980s.
Right to property is now recognized as a constitutional
right by Article 300A, which provides that "no person shall be deprived
of his property save by authority of law".
The constitutional amendment only completed the process
which began in the 1960s and which saw the government seeking to chip away at
right to property for the professed objective of creation of an egalitarian
society.
On Friday, however, the wheel of jurisprudence appeared to
be coming full circle when Justices Gowda and Roy, while stressing the
constitutional obligation of the government to compensate landowners, called
right to property a "prized privilege".
The court said it was the government's constitutional
obligation to ensure that the landowner was adequately compensated. It said
other rights became illusory in the absence of right to property and the state
must ensure it was protected.
"The judicial mandate of human rights dimension, thus,
makes it incumbent on the state to solemnly respond to its constitutional
obligation to guarantee that a land loser is adequately compensated. The
proposition does not admit of any compromise or laxity," it said.
"Though earlier, human rights existed to the claim of
individuals' right to health, livelihood, shelter and employment etc, these
have started gaining a multifaceted approach, so much so that property rights
have become integrated within the definition of human rights," the bench
said while referring to its previous verdict.
The bench pulled up Rajasthan government for not fulfilling
its promise of fair compensation to landowners whose properties were acquired
by the state in 2001. The state government had assured landowners allotment
of 15%
developed land near the acquired land but it resiled from the promise and
allotted them undeveloped land in a far off place.
Directing the state to allot developed land with all basic
facilities to owners, the bench said, "Right to property, though no longer
a fundamental right, is otherwise a zealous possession of which one cannot be
divested save by the authority of law as is enjoined by Article 300A of
the Constitution. Any callous inaction or apathy of the state and its
instrumentalities, in securing just compensation would amount to dereliction of
a constitutional duty.
"The persistent denial of their right to the developed
land in lieu of compensation and that too without any legally acceptable
justification, has ensued in manifest injustice to them over the years. Neither
have they been paid just compensation for the land acquired nor have they been
provided with the developed land in place thereof, as assured."
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