Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement: Law and Politics

This working paper explores key issues in the new Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Bill’s attempt at ‘balance’ within the larger political context of land acquisition in India. In particular, it looks at Eminent Domain and ‘public purpose,’ rehabilitation and resettlement, compensation, safeguards for ‘Project Affected Persons’ (PAPs), processes (including the urgency clause), linkages with environment, applicability of the proposed enactment as well as critical areas where the enactment has no applicability. In doing so, the paper also asks larger legal and political questions regarding land acquisition in the backdrop of constitutional debates pertaining to the Bill’s implications for federalism and within a detailed analysis of the most recent pronouncements of the Supreme Court. On ‘public purpose’, the paper infers that even if the new Bill renders the concept less vague, it will still not stop the Judiciary from looking into questions of abuse in actual land acquisition or use of the land. What the LARR Bill could however achieve is allow a clearer legal framework within which the Judiciary could look into these questions in general, and on ‘public purpose’ in particular. The paper also looks at potential scenarios, and in particular, possible intended (or unintended) consequences of the enactment for future urbanisation patterns in India.