A Critical Analysis of Land Acquisition Act 1894 in the light of Contemporary Legal Context

Abstract

The Land Acquisition is necessary for public purposes along with proper rehabilitation and resettlement of the landowners and livelihood losers so that social and economic justice to be ensured, but the existing laws in Pakistan needs to be enforced efficaciously as to certify a humanitarian, partaking, conversant, consultative and translucent procedure for land procurement. The underlying policy behind Land Acquisition is to create integration of the rehabilitation and resettlement on the one hand and the national perspective of development plan on the other, thus a balance to be ensured between community interest and individual interest. Government played a passive role in Land Acquisition and failed to make proper arrangement for the fair and just compensation to the Landowners and livelihood losers along with rehabilitation and resettlement scheme till so far. The present law has neglected to comprehend the problems identified with land procurement simultaneously, the New Economic Policy and the arrival of foreign multinational corporations add on fuel to the fire. ‘Urgency’ is a concern of subjective satisfaction of the State; and it is the government only who has to decide that whether the acquisition is for a ‘public purpose’ or not. The issue of land procurement being a matter of policy; Courts have a very limited role to play. Hence there is a need to re-vitalize the existing law.