J-K LG designates courts for land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement authority

SRINAGAR — The Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory has designated existing courts of district judges and additional district judges as “the land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement authority” under the Central land acquisition law which became applicable to the Union Territory in 2019.

The LG has designated these courts as the authorities in the exercise of powers vested with him under “The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.”

Under the law, the authority is vested with powers to resolve disputes relating to land acquisition, compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement.

According to a notification issued by the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, all the district judges and additional district judges in each district have been appointed as presiding officers of the concerned authorities within their respective jurisdiction for speedy disposal of land disputes related to land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement.

They have been appointed as presiding officers of these authorities by the J&K Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

As per the law governing the functioning of these authorities, any person interested who has not accepted the land compensation award has to write to the collector to refer the matter to the authority.

“Provided that the collector shall, within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of the application, make a reference to the appropriate authority,” the law states, as per the news agency KNO.

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 became applicable to J&K UT on October 31, 2019. Before 2019, J&K had its own land acquisition law.