What is Land Acquisition Act 1894?

The Land Acquisition Act 1894 extended up to the whole India excluding the state of Jammu and Kashmir. According to the notification, the government has the right to acquire a piece of land for the following reasons:

• To dig or bore into subsoil

• To do all the necessary acts to ascertain that the land is adapted for such purposes

The purpose of land acquisition can be due to need for public purposes or for a company. 

Ever since then there have been many amendments and changes to the Land Acquisition Act 1894. 

Now that we have ascertained what is Land Acquisition Act 1894. Let us look at the process set up by the act for land acquisition.

Before acquiring the land, a notification has to be published in the official gazette, 2 daily newspapers circulating in that particular locality. The collector must send out official notification in the said locality. No government official can start the acquisition process without giving a notice of at least 7 days to the landowner.

As per the act, the collector has to give the owner 48 hours notice prior to taking final possession of the property. He/she has to ensure that 80% of the compensation for such land is paid to the entitled person.

Some major components have been added recently in the Land Acquisition Act 2013. You must go through them too.

I hope this helps you know a little more about the Land Acquisition Act 1894.