LARR Act, 2013 | Kerala High Court Directs State To Lay Down Procedure For Hearing In Cases Of Land Acquisition Under Section 15 Of Act

In a recent judgment regarding the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, the Kerala High Court directed the state to “actively consider the laying down of a procedure for hearing as contemplated in Section 15 of the Act, which stipulates 60 days from the date of publication of the preliminary inspection under Section 11, for submission of objections. The issue arose when the respondent rejected the objections raised by the petitioners under Section 15 of the LARR Act, 2013 challenging the Social Impact Assessment Study and the consequential proceedings. The petitioner submitted that even though Section 15 allows a period of sixty days for preferring an objection against the social impact assessment, Form 7 issued under Rule 18 restricts the period to 15 days. The above-said period cannot in any manner be reduced by notices issued for different purposes, granting 15 days' time for submission of objections.” On the question of the Social Impact Assessment Report, the primary contention raised by the petitioners was that the constitution of the Expert Committee violates Section 7 of the Act.