UNAISA Vs. DISTRICT COLLECTOR ERNAKULAM DISTRICT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as "Act 30 of 2013") was enacted by the Parliament to ensure a humane, participative, informed and transparent process for land acquisition when the mighty state exercises its powers under eminent domain for furthering infrastructural development and urbanisation. An examination of the various provisions of the Act would reveal that much emphasis has been given to ensure that least disturbance is caused to the owners of the land affected by such acquisition and to other affected families and they are provided a just and fair compensation. The legislature also intended that there should be sufficient measures to provide rehabilitation and resettlement to the affected families. The Parliament wanted to ensure that the cumulative outcome of compulsory acquisition should be that affected persons become partners in development leading to an improvement in their social and economic status post acquisition.

(2.) The grievance raised by the petitioner in this Writ petition concerns one such acquisition made under Act 30 of 2013. Her grievance is that the respondents acquired the shop room where she was conducting business of bag manufacture for over a decade but she was deprived of the compensation to which she was legally entitled.

(3.) To appreciate the exact grievance of the petitioner, the facts need to be recapitulated in some detail.