-The Hindu The proposed amendment bill to the Land Act has amendments that are an exercise of state power without reason, with the basis for these changes on assertions of a vague agenda of development. What is equally disturbing is that at least some of the changes that these amendments propose, if passed, would also be patently unconstitutional In his celebrated treatise on constitutional law, H.M. Seervai began a discussion on the...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled that land acquisition proceedings are deemed to have lapsed if the government fails to compensate landowners or take possession of acquired land within two years. The court said if the government was keen on retaining the acquired land, it must re-initiate acquisition proceedings as provided under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. A bench of...

-The Hindu Interview with social activist Medha Patkar on why she opposes the Land Bill proposed by the Centre Social activist Medha Patkar has been in the forefront of the struggle for the rights and rehabilitation of project-displaced populations for over two decades, and has relentlessly pursued the formulation of a national rehabilitation policy. She spoke to Gargi Parsai at the site of the agitation in Delhi about the pitfalls in the...

-Livemint.com The transition cannot take place if India's farming-dependant population is given the choice to remain in rural hinterlands and practice agriculture Until January 2014, when the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLA) came into force, Indian farmers were at the mercy of the colonial era Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Under the older law, the state could forcibly acquire private land under a...

-PTI New Delhi: Under fire from the Opposition on the Land ordinance, government today said it is considering a number of representations from stakeholders expressing concerns on the interests of the farmers on the provisions of the law. Defending the ordinance to amend the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act, 2013, Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda told Lok Sabha that many state governments and...