Functions of Land & Building Department

  Land & Building Department of Govt. of Delhi is responsible for large-scale acquisition of land for Planned Development of Delhi and placing it at the disposal of DDA for development and disposal. It has 4 main branches viz Land Acquisition Branch, Alternative Plot branch, E.P. Cell and Housing Loan branch.

I Functions of Land Acquisition Branch

   This branch processes the proposal for acquisition of land received from DDA as well as other Departments of Govt. of Delhi. It also processes the applications for de-notification of land.

(A) Procedure for Acquisition of Land under the provision of Land Acquisition Act 1984

On receipt of the proposal for acquisition of land from the DDA or any other Govt. department, the same is forwarded to the concerned Land Acquisition Collector for furnishing the draft notification under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act 1894 after conducting the joint survey of the land proposed to be acquired.

The ADM/LAC concerned furnishes the requisite draft notification under section 4 & 6 of the L.A. Act, 1894 either under the normal clause or by invoking urgency clause depending upon the proposal received from the requisitioning department. The draft notification so received from the ADM/LAC concerned are scrutinized by the Revenue officials of this department. If any discrepancies are found in the draft notification, the same is conveyed to the ADM/LAC concerned for rectification. The rectified draft notification is put up to Hon’ble L.G. for approval as per categories below.

1. Notification U/s 4 is an intention of the Government to acquire the land, issued after obtaining approval of L.G.
    
2. Objection U/s 5-A is to be filed by the landowners, whose land is notified U/s 4 of the L.A. Act, within 30 days of publication of the notification, with LAC concerned.
    
3. On receipt of the report on 5-A objections from the LAC concerned, the report is considered by the Appropriate Government i.e. LG and thereafter, declaration U/s 6 is issued either for the whose land notified u/s 4 or less on the basis of the consideration of the report of the LAC. The declaration u/s 6 has to be issued within one year from issuance of section 4 notification, failing which notification issued u/s 4 will lapse.
    
4. LAC concerned has to announce the Award u/s 11 of the L.A. Act within two years of declaration U/s 6. After announcing the Award, possession of the land is taken/handed over as per provision of section 16 of the L.A. Act.

1. In case the land is urgently required, then urgency clause is invoked. Approval of the Competent Authority i.e. LG is obtained for issuance of notification U/s 4 read with 17(4), 6 & 17(1) dispensing with filing of the objections by the land owners U/s 5-A before the LAC.
   
   After obtaining approval of L.G, notification U/s 4 read with 17(4) is issued. Section 17(4) dispenses with objections U/s 5-A.)
    
2. Declaration U/s 6 & 17 (i) can be issued after publication of notification U/s 4, within one year of such notification (U/s 17(i) possession of land can be taken before announcement of Award. It is mandatory for the requisitioning department to deposit 80% estimated compensation amount, the demand for which is raised by concerned LAC, with L&B Department before issuance of declaration U/s 6 & 17(i), as LAC has to offer 80% estimated compensation amount, to the land owners at the time of taking over the possession).
    
3. ADM/LAC concerned will take possession of land notified U/s 6 & 17(i) giving 15 days notice U/s 9(i) to the interested persons, after offering 80% of the compensation amount.
    
4. Further LAC concerned will have to announce the Award within 2 years from date of issuance of declaration U/s 6 & 17(i).

II POLICY GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURE FOR DENOTIFICATION OF LAND ACQUIRED UNDER LAND ACQUISITION ACT

(A) LEGAL PROVISIONS:

Section 48 (i) of the LA Act 1894 provides that except in case provided for U/s 36(i), the Govt. shall be at liberty to withdraw from the acquisition of any land of which possession has not been taken. Thus, the power to withdraw any land from acquisition has been created under the statute, which provides that the land can be de-notified if the possession of which has not been taken over by the government. However, this power has to be exercised in judicious manner and on the basis of guidelines framed by the Govt. the details of which in brief are as under:

(B) Guidelines and procedure for de-notification

A Committee called as ‘Denotification Committee’ consisting of the following members shall examine all denotification proposals and submit its recommendations to the Lt. Governor as to whether such proposal may be accepted or rejected.

The recommendations of the Committee shall not be binding on the Lt. Governor who may take a decision on each recommendation, at his discretion.

On approval of the Lt. Governor of any proposal, a notification under Section 48 91) of the Land Acquisition Act shall be issued in respect of the land in question.

(C) COMMON CONDITIONS FOR CONSIDERING DENOTIFICATION

1. Possession of the land should not have been taken.
    
2. The persons interested in the land should not have received any part of the compensation towards acquisition of land.
    
3. Where the requisitioning department itself request for de-notification of a land, it may be recommended for de-notification.

As per the decision of the Standing Committee in the meeting dated 3.6.93, land 50 meters from village abadi is not acquired. However, in case any such land has been notified for acquisition, it may be recommended for denotification provided its absence will not materially affect the public purpose for which it is being acquired.

(D) PROPERTIES BUILT-UP PRIOR TO ISSUE OF NOTIFICATION U/S 4 OF THE LAND ACQUISITION ACT, 1894

1. Built-up properties existing at the time of notification U/s 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 may be recommended for denotification provided:

1. the absence of the land on which the built-up portion exists will not materially affect the public purpose.
    
2. the property was built-up after requisite approvals of the Competent authority.
    
3. When the public purpose can be satisfied by another viable land, which would cause less financial burden to the Government.

(E) PROPERTIES BUILT-UP AFTER THE ISSUE OF NOTIFICATION U/S 4 OF THE LAND ACQUISITON ACT, 1894.

1. Land on which built-up structures have come up after issue of notification under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, shall normally not be considered for denotification. However, if cluster of largely residential structures has come upon a long period of time and demolition of the structures shall cause immense hardship to a large number of inhabitants, the following procedures may be adopted

1. Where there is a recommendation from the technical department/ committee of the Government that the land is inappropriate/unsuitable.
    
2. Where the feasibility studies, if any, conducted show that the land is not suitable for the public purpose for which it is being acquired.
    
3. Where the Colony including the area in question has itself been regularized and services handed over to MCD, the land may be recommended for denotification.

2. In all cases, a sub-committee comprising the Land Acquisition Collector, a representative of Land & Building department (not below the rank of a Dy. Secretary) and a Representative of DDA (not below the rank of a Dy. Secretary), shall inspect the land and submit a detailed report outlining the number and nature of structures, the feasibility of taking over the land after demolition of the structures, and the specific recommendation on denotification of the land. The Denotification Committee shall consider the report of the Sub-committee, the comments of the requisitioning department with specific reference to its need for land, and then make a recommendation to the Lt. Governor for considering or rejecting the proposal.

RELIGIOUS STRUCTURES

Any religious structure existing on the land at the time of issue of notification under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 may be considered for denotification. However, the area, which may be recommended for denotification, may include any appurtenant area up to 500 sq.m.

If there is any structure like Hospital, School, Charitable Dispensary existing before issuing the notification U/s 4 of Land acquisition Act, then the case may be considered for denotification.