ABOUT WBNUJS
The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS) is a premier National Law University consistently ranked as one of India’stop legal educational institutions. It was established under the WBNUJS Act, 1999 (West Bengal Act IX of 1999). It is a university within the meaning of subsection (f) of Section 2 and Section 12-B of the UGC Act, 1956, and has permanent affiliation from the Bar Council of India.
Over the years, NUJS has produced several outstanding lawyers and scholars. With a rich set of faculty and students from diverse backgrounds, drawn from almost all corners of India, the academic community of the law school has made a name for itself in more than one field of law. This establishes an aura of excellence, devotion to the highest standards of academic integrity, and commitment to duty of service to one and all.
The Chief Justice of India is the Chancellor of NUJS and is also the Chairman of the General Council, the supreme policy-making body of the University. Under the current guidance of its Vice-Chancellor, Prof. (Dr.) Nirmal Kanti Chakrabarti, one of the most respected and renowned legal scholars in India and backed by a rich and diverse faculty, the University strives to continue with its history of merit in various domains of law.
For more information, please visit the official website of NUJS at www.nujs.edu.
ABOUT CENTRE FOR STUDIES AND RESEARCH IN LAND, MINING AND REAL ESTATE LAWS
The Centre for Research and Studies in Land, Mining, and Real Estate Laws (‘CRSLMREL’) was set up at WBNUJS during the academic year 2019-20. The Centre functions under the leadership and supervision of Dr. M.P. Chengappa [Assistant Professor (Law), NUJS]. Issues related to land acquisition, real estate, and mining laws are fundamental to questions pertaining to environmental law, the efficacy of regulatory regimes, the functioning of the market economy, and social welfare. Therefore, discourse around the land, mining, and real estate laws are critical. Many law firms across the country have dedicated teams, especially for this purpose. The pendency of cases pertaining to these fields shows that land acquisition real estate related disputes, and mining regulations form a very crucial field in the legal industry.
CRSLMREL aims to create awareness and guide discourse in the aforementioned fields in academia by conducting studies, consulting with stakeholders, creating resource materials, and conducting capacity-building programs with industry professionals.
BACKGROUND
The Stateâs sovereign powers of âEminent Domainâ, allow it to compulsorily acquire land belonging to private persons for a public purpose, upon payment of a just compensation, according to procedure established by law. The twin ideas of âjust compensationâ and âpublic purposeâ, underpinning land acquisition procedures has its philosophical foundation on the idea that âno individual should have to disproportionately bear the burden of supporting the larger public good.â And therefore, the land acquisition laws which seek the âgreatest good of greatest numberâ prescribe procedural and substantive due processes to be adhered to during an acquisition.
The âRight to Propertyâ has had a chequered history under the Indian Constitution. From being included as a FR under Article 19(1)(f) in 1950, by the drafters of the Constitution, followed by a series of amendments leading ultimately to its abolition as a fundamental right, by the 44th Constitutional Amendment of 1978, which abolished Article 19(1)(f) and Article 31 and inserted Art 300A, the âRight to Propertyâ was relegated from being a fundamental right, to finally becoming a legal right under the Constitution. The right to property has traversed a long-drawn complex path.
RFCTLARR â FUNDAMENTALS
On 1st January 2014, the Right to Fair Compensation, Transparency in Land Acquisition and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR) came into force, repealing and replacing the âLand Acquisition Actâ, of 1894. The 5-pillars of the â2013 Actâ are â âConsentâ, âFair Compensationâ, âSocial Impact Assessmentâ, âRehabilitation and Resettlementâ, and lastly âtransparency and fairnessâ in procedural and substantive due processes in land acquisitions. The RFCTLARR aims to achieve social justice and equity, by facilitating a transparent, accountable, participatory, consultative and inclusive model of land acquisition. It entails fairness of procedure and substantive due process in accordance with the principles enshrined in the Constitution of India.
RFCTLARR â CONSTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES IN LAND ACQUISITION
The RFCTLARR was a paradigmatic shift, which made the landowner-farmer the focal point of all land acquisition processes. However, this rebalancing was fraught with its own challenges of implementation. The stringent provisions of mandatory SIA and consent requirements â 70% for PPP projects and 80% for Private projects – posed huge impediments in the process of requisitioning land for industrialization and infrastructure development. Several industrial and infrastructural projects are stalled by high consent requirements and imposition of mandatory âSocial Impact Assessmentâ in the face of inadequacy of resources, lack of trained manpower, dismal state of administrative machinery, inflated project costs by several multiples. Such time and cost overlays pose huge impediments and make several industrial and infrastructural projects economically unviable.
Inclusive and participatory provisions of RFCTLARR are laudable but face humungous implementation challenges. Social justice and equity must walk hand in hand with economic development. At all times a balanced equilibrium position must be sought where larger collective interest is co-extensive with individual rights. Undermining one and upholding the other will be reneging on our Constitutional oaths. The RFCTLARR must be judiciously recalibrated to promote building a sustainable and equitable development model in India. It is time to reset the pendulum to its mean position.
FOLLOWING THEMES WILL BE DELIBERATED UPON IN THE CONFERENCE:
- âDOCTRINE OF EMINENT DOMAINâ AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE OF âRIGHT TO PROPERTYâ
- RFCTLARR â STEPS INVOLVED IN LAND ACQUISITION
- RFCTLARR â SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
- RFCTLARR â COMPENSATION
- RFCTLARR â R&R
- INTERPLAY BETWEEN âRFCTLARR â PESA â FRAâ ACTS
- LAND ACQUISITION IN COAL BEARING AREAS
- RETROSPECTIVE OPERATION â SECTION 24, RFCTLARR
- CONCLUSION & WAY FORWARD
The Need to Evolve Alternatives to Compulsory Land Acquisition â Joint Benefit- Sharing Arrangements â Making Land Owners as Partners in Development Process
The key objectives of planned infrastructure development are to obtain land for public purposes of development of social and physical infrastructure and to ensure inclusive and equitable growth for all. Land is the foundational basis of all development. The principle of âGrowth pays for Growthâ, underpins the acquisition law and this necessitates the need for having alternatives to compulsory land acquisition. The alternatives must foster the pursuits of sustainable development by providing planned development models founded on the idea of joint benefit sharing arrangements. The fundamental idea being, to make all stakeholders of the acquisition process, partners in the development process.
REGISTRATION FEES â Rs. 4,800 per Person + GST
This registration fees shall be applicable for 10 Delegate. Above 10 Delegates fees will not be collected. Western Coal Field can nominate any Delegates who wish to participate in the National Seminar. No Registration Fees will be charged from the students of WBNUJS.
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