APPENDIX XI

[See Chapter IX, paragraph 198]

Rules for the payment of campensation for land taken up under the Land Acquisition Act I of 1894 (Government of India Finance Department, Resolution no. 2209-A, dated the 10th May, 1895—as modified by Finance Department, no. 3469-A, dated the 12th August, 1896, no. 4166-A, dated the 21st September, 1897, no. 1605-A, dated the 3rd April, 1900, and no. 289-A, dated the 19th March, 1914).

NOTE—Unless, there is something repugnant in the subject or context, the rules given in this appendix for the acquisition of land for the Public Works Department apply mutatis mutandis to other departments of Government also.

LAND ACQUISITION OFFICERS

1. After all preliminaries in respect to estimate, etc., that may be required under rules in departmental rules in force for the time being, have been duly carried out, the land will be taken up under the Act either by the Collector or by some special officer who is appointed solely for the purpose of acquiring land for the Public Works Department and invested with powers of a Collector under the Act; the procedure differs in the two cases.

PROCEDURE OF SPECIAL OFFICERS APPOINTED UNDER THE ACT

2. Government servants appointed solely for the purpose of acquiring land for the Public Works Department, being invested with the power of a Collector under the Act are regarded as public works disbursers and are supplied with funds in the manner prescribed for the works outlay of public works officers. The following procedure shall be observed by such Government servants.

3. When an award is made under section 11 of the Act, the special officer shall have a statement prepared in the appended form (marked A) showing the amounts payable to each person under the award, and shall, on the day the award is made, forward a copy of the statement signed by himself, to the Accountant General with whom he is in account. Before signing the copy, the officer should carefully satisfy himself that it correctly shows the amounts due under the award, and should himself enter the total of column 6 of the statement in words both in the original and copy. A subsidiary statement in form AA giving particulars regarding the acceptance by the persons concerned, of the amounts entered in column 6 of the award statement should also be furnished to the Accountant General as soon as possible. If the subsidiary statement is not complete on the day that the award is made the necessary entries in column 7 of statement A will be made in the Accountant General’s office on the receipt of the statement in form AA.

4. In cases where an award has been made by a Court under section 26 of the Act, a second award statement should be prepared in the accompanying form (marked B) by the Land Acquisition Officer as soon as the decision of the Court is ascertained, and a copy thereof forwarded to the Accountant General. On receipt of this statement, the Accountant General will proceed to check the entries in columns 1 to 4 with the original award by the officer.

5. Any change in the apportionment of the officer’s award made by a Court under section 30 of the Act should also similarly be communicated to the Accountant General for the necessary corrections in the award statement. And if under section 31(3) of the Act it has been arranged to grant a compensation otherwise than in cash, the nature of such compensation should be clearly specified in the column of remarks in the award statement.

6. In giving notice of the award under section 12(2) and tendering payment under section 31(1) to such of the persons interested as were not present personally or by their representatives when the award was made, the special officer shall require them to appear personally or by representatives by a certain date, to receive payment of the compensation awarded to them intimating also that no interest will be allowed to them if they fail to appear. If they do not appear, and do not apply for a reference to the Civil Court under section 18, the officer shall after any further endeavour to secure their attendance that may seem desirable, cause the amounts due to be paid in the Treasury as revenue deposits payable to the persons to whom they are respectively due, and vouched for in form E. The officer shall also give notice to the payees of such deposits, specifying the Treasury in which the deposits have been made. In the Collector’s accounts the amounts deposited in the Treasury will at once be charged off as public works expenditure and when the persons interested under the award ultimately claim payment the amounts will be paid to them in the same manner as ordinary revenue deposits. The officer should, as far as possible, arrange to make the payments due in or near the village to which the payees belong, in order that the number of undisbursed sums to be placed in deposit on account of non-attendance may be reduced to a minimum. Whenever payment is claimed through a representative, whether before or after deposit of the amount awarded, such representative must show legal authority for receiving the compensation on behalf of his principal.

NOTE—In the case of petty payments if the payees do not appear on the day fixed for payment and do not apply for a reference to the Civil Court under section 18, the officer shall issue notices to them informing them that if they do not attend by a certain date the compensation awarded to them will be remitted by money order, the amount of the money order fee being deducted. The following rules must be observed in making such payment by money order :

(i) No sums exceeding Rs. 250 in each separate case may be paid by money order.

(ii) No compensation due on account of land which is owned jointly by the proprietors of a village or sub-division of a village may be paid by money order.

(iii) In each money order so issued, the purpose of the remittance should be briefly stated in the acknowledgement portion thereof in continuation of the printed entry "received the sum specified above on....." sufficient space being left, below the manuscript entry thus made for the signature or thumb-impression of the payee.

On receipt of the money order acknowledgment duly signed by the payee it should be attached to the usual receipt in form C on which the full amount of the compensation and the deduction made there from on account of the money order fee should be clearly shown; the receipt will then be disposed of in the usual way. The Accountant General will accept such voucher with the money order acknowledgment as a valid receipt for the full amount entered therein.

(iv) For the words "paid in my presence by cash/cheque" in form C the words "paid by money order" shall be substituted.

7. In cases where payment is made by money order under the note under rule 6, the Accountant General will accept a receipt for the amount entered in the award statement, less the amount of money order fee, as a valid receipt for the full amount entered in the statement.

8. In making direct payments to the persons interested under the award, the officer shall take the receipt of each person to whom money is paid on a separate voucher in form C, containing a reference to the item showing the amount due to that person in the statement prescribed in paragraph 3. In cases where payments are made to a number of persons under a single award, acquittance roll in form CC may be substituted for separate receipts in form C.

9. The special officer shall forward the separate receipts of the payees or the acquittance roll as the case may be, to the Accountant General when forwarding to him the account of the month in which the payments are made.

10. All payments into Court for deposit under the Act should be made by means of cheques in favour of the presiding officer of the Court, payable by order of the Court to credit of Civil Court Deposits. The cheques should be accompanied by receipts in triplicate in form D, duly filled up, of which one will be retained by the Court for record, and the other two returned duly signed to the Collector. The amounts deposited in the Court will be charged off as expenditure in the public works accounts of the Collector, and the ultimate payments to the persons interested under the award shall be arranged for by the Court under the rules for the payment of Civil Court Deposits.

11. One of the copies of the receipt in form D referred to in rule 10 should be forwarded by the Collector to the Accountant General with the accounts of the month in which the payments are made, the other being kept in his office.

12. When a Court has awarded any compensation in excess of the officer’s award the further payment due, as entered in column 6 of the award statement in form B, should be made into the Court by means of a cheque, and the procedure described in the preceding paragraph should be followed, form D being used with the necessary changes to give full particulars of the order of the Court.

13. Government may authorize any particular Land Acquisition Officer to make all or any of his payments by cheques, provided no inconvenience is caused thereby to the payees in consequence of the property being situated at a distance from the Treasury. The use of cheques should be safegarded by a strict observance of the following rules :

(1) Every cheque-book should contain a certain number of cheques, with consecutive printed numbers and each book should contain its own serial number.

(2) The serial number of the cheque-book and the number of cheques it contains should be reported to the Treasury Officer before the book is brought into use.

(3) The cheque-book should be kept under lock and key by the Land Acquisition Officer himself.

(4) The cheque should be filled up by the Land Acquisition Officer, with his own hand, as well as figures, and cheques should be enfaced "under Rs."

(5) A periodical examination pass-books from the Treasury with the counterfoils of the cheque-book should be made by the Land Acquisition Officer himself.

13-A. The Land Acquisition Officers who are specially appointed to conduct land acquisition proceedings under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, for the Irrigation Department, must apply to the Executive Engineer concerned for funds required by them for such proceedings and must also submit regular accounts of the expenditure incurred by them to the Executive Engineer, for preliminary audit by the divisional accountant and incorporation in the monthly account of the division which are submitted to the Accountant General. The procedure to be followed in the maintenance of such accounts should be that prescribed for sub-divisional officers of the Public Works Department.

Payments under the Act after the special officer is relieved of this special duties

14. In any case in which a reference is made to Civil Court, and the award of the Court is not made till after the special officer has been relieved of his special duties, the further payments due under the award shall be made by the Collector, who will observe the same procedure as if the reference to the Civil Court had been made by himself, as prescribed in rules 9 and 10 above.

Procedure of Collector or other civil officer not specially employed for land acquisition

15. When the land is taken up by the Collector or other civil officer, not specially employed for the work, such Collector or civil officer is not a public works disburser, but draws money for payment due under his award from the Treasury.

16. Such Collector or civil officer shall, as soon as he makes the award, or as soon as he ascertains that an award has been made by the Civil Court, prepare a statement in form A or B or in both, as the case may be, showing the amounts due, and forward a copy thereof to the Accountant General in the manner prescribed in rules 3 and 4. Additions and alterations in the award statement should also be communicated to the Accountant General as prescribed in rule, 5, and a subsidiary statement in form AA should, if necessary, be furnished as laid down in rule 3. The procedure laid down in rule 6 should also be observed by such Collector or civil officer.

17. In making the payments due under the award, the Collector shall take from each person to whom payment is made a receipt in form C, containing a reference to the particular entry in the award showing the amount due to the payee. In the case of payment to a number of persons under a single award, an acquittance roll may be substituted for separate receipts as laid down in rule 8. These receipts will be the Treasury Officer’s vouchers for the payments.

18. The receipt referred to in rule 17 shall be forwarded by the Treasury Officer with the accounts of the month to the Accountant General.

19. For payments into Civil Courts Deposits the procedure laid down in rules 10 to 12 should be observed.

20. The Treasury Officer has no concern with the award or with the award statement; he makes the payments on the authority of the Collector or other officer assessing compensation. The Collector may either draw the amount to be disbursed to each payee separately, in which case he should countersign the receipt in form C, and make it payable at the Treasury to the payee, altering the words "Paid in my presence in cash/by cheque" to "Pay" or he may draw the total amount to be disbursed by him under the award on his own receipts as an advance, and after making the payments forward the receipt of the payees to the Treasury Officer in adjustment of the advance. In the former case, an advice list of the forms passed for payment should be sent to the Treasury Officer, who in turn should send weekly an advice of orders paid.

Procedure when no money compensation is paid

21. In case in which compensation is granted in the shape of either land in exchange or remission of revenue as provided in section 31-(3) of the Act, and the land is acquired for Government purposes, no adjustment of the value of the land given in exchange will be required, unless it is separately purchased by Government. If, however, the land is acquired for a body financially independent of Government, the value of Government land given in exchange and the capitalized value of the abatement of land revenue should be charged against advances of funds (rule 23 below) made by that body.

Investment of compensation money deposited in Court

22. Investments under sections 32 and 33 of the Act of money deposited in Court should be arranged for, in the case of purchase of Government securities, in communication between the Court and the Reserve Bank of India, Calcutta, and purchase of land should be effected under the Court’s orders through the Collector or other revenue authority. The Reserve Bank of India will inform the Court what sum should be remitted to enable him to make the investment, and this amount will be paid from the deposits in Court.

Audit adjustment and recovery of payments on behalf of a department of the Central Government or bodies financially independent of Government.

23. (i) In any case in which land is acquired for a municipality or other body financially independent of Government or for a department of the Central Government, the State Government may direct that the payments, instead of being made and audited in the same manner a the ordinary payments of such body or department, shall be made and audited as if the land were being acquired for the State Government. If the State Government issue such an order the Collector or other officer who makes payments on account of the land acquired shall draw fund from the Treasury and make payments in the manner laid down in these rules using the forms prescribed, and shall tender his accounts to the Accountant General.

(ii) The entire cost of the acquisition proceedings in respect of a municipality or other body financially independent of Government shall be payable by the municipality or other body concerned in the manner laid down below :

The estimated cost of the acquisition will be paid to credit of Government in advance on such dates in such instalments as the Government may in each case direct. The Collector shall estimate as closely as possible the amount required for the advance deposit. When a deposit proves insufficient the Collector will similarly arrange for additional credit. These advance payments should be credited in the Treasury accounts to a special deposit head under "Civil Deposits—for work done for public bodies or individuals." All charges will be debited to the deposit account of the municipality or other body concerned in accordance with rule 24.

(iii) In case land is acquired for a department of the Central Government, under section 127 of the Government of India Act, the Central Government shall pay in full the amount of compensation payable to the owners of the land and all incidental charges (e.g. Court expenses in the event of a reference to the Civil Court, expenses incurred in surveying and marking out the land, damages paid under section 5 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, travelling expenses of the land acquisition staff, fees payable to a private counsel or a Government pleader, and contingencies). The department concerned of the Central Government will make a specified allotment for these charges which will be intimated to the Collector or other officer when acquisition proceedings are being initiated or as soon after the commencement of proceedings as possible. The compensation and all other charges mentioned above shall be recovered in accordance with rule 24.

The State Government will not realize anything from the Central Government towards the cost, including contributions for leave and pension, of the staff which it employs for acquiring land for the Central Government under section 127 of the Government of India Act. But if the State Government find it necessary for the purpose to employ staff in addition to their normal land acquisition establishment, such special cases will be reported to the Central Government who may make exgratia payments towards the cost of such extra staff.

24. (1) Charges connected with acquisition proceedings to be realized from the Central Government in accordance with rule 23 will be regulated as follows :

(1) Compensation—Debit will be direct to the allotment specially made for the purpose by the Central Government, which will be intimated to the Collector as indicated in rule 23.

(2) Incidental charges—

(a) Fees and travelling allowance to a Government pleader—When a Government pleader is engaged solely on an acquisition case for a department of the Central Government the Legal Remembrancer will accept the bill and send it to the Collector who should make direct payment and charge it to the specific allotment. When however, a Government pleader is only partly engaged on such an acquisition case a proportionate share only should be debited to Central allotment. For this purpose the Legal Remembrancer will calculate the share and will prepare a separate bill which he will send to the Collector who will make direct payment, and debit the charge to the Central allotment.

(b) Fees to a counsel other than a Government pleader—When such a counsel is engaged the Legal Remembrancer will accept the bill and send it to the Collector who should make direct payment and debit the charge to the Central allotment.

(c) Other incidental charges such as Court expenses in the event of a reference to the Civil Court, expenses incurred in surveying and marking out the land, damages paid under section 5 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, travelling expenses of the land acquisition staff and contingencies—The procedure varies according to circumstances and the debit will be in one of the following three categories :

(i) When an officer and his staff are salely employed on a Central acquisition case the total expenditure should be debited to the Central allotment. But, in the first place, the charge should be met from the appropriation for temporary land acquisition staff in the State budget, a debit being raised against the Central Government from time to time, and in any case before the close of each financial year. The credit in the State account corresponding to the debit raised against the Central Government should be shown as a deduction from charges except when recovery cannot be effected in the same year in which the expenditure was incurred, when it will be shown as a receipt under the head "Miscellaneous—Collection of payments for services rendered—Other recoveries."

(ii) When an officer and his staff are not wholly employed on an acquisition case for the Central Government, the State Government will recover from the Central Government a percentage on account of the charges mentioned in this sub clause based on the cost of the acquisition. The district officer will fix the percentage having regard to the labour and expenditure involved in each case. The charge as in (i) will, in the first instance, be met from the revenues of the State but will subsequently be debited to the Central revenues and credited in the State account in the manner explained in clause (c) (i) above.

(iii) When an officer and his staff are employed on an acquisition work which is partly Central, partly State, and partly for bodies financially independent of Government the cost should be shared by means of a prorata distribution. In the first instance, the whole cost will be debited to the revenues of the State, and distribution in proportion to the cost of acquisition for the various parties the share of the Central Government and other bodies being recovered and adjusted from time to time and before the close of each financial year, as explained in clause (c) (i) above or under II (d) (i).

II—In the case of a municipality or other body financially independent of Government the following procedure will be observed in regard to recovery of charges connected with land acquisition proceedings:

(a) Compensation—This will be debited direct to the deposit account of the municipality or other body concerned.

(c) Fees to a counsel other than a Government pleader—Such charges will be rare, but if there are any, the Legal Remembrancer should accept the bill and send it to the Collector who will make direct payment and debit it to the deposit account concerned.

(d) Pay of the Land Acquisition Officer and his staff and incidental charges such as Court expenses in the event of a reference to the Civil Court, expenses incurred in surveying and marking out the land, damages paid under section 5 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, travelling expenses of the land acquisition staff and contingencies :—

(i) Cases where an officer and his staff are solely employed on an acquisition case for a municipality or other body will be rare. But if such a case does arise and the pay and incidental charges are readily distinguishable, the total expenditure should be debited to the deposit account of the body concerned. In the first place, however, the charge should be met from the appropriation for temporary land acquisition staff in the State budget, a debit being raised against the deposit account from time to time and before the close of each financial year. The State account will receive a corresponding credit which will be shown as a deduction from charges. If, however, recovery cannot be effected in the same year in which the expenditure was incurred, the credit in the State account will be shown as receipts under the head "Miscellaneous receipts—Collection or payments for services rendered—Other recoveries."

(ii) When an officer and his staff are not wholly employed on an acquisition case for a municipality or other body the Government should recover from it a percentage on account of pay and incidental charges based on the cost of the acquisition. The district officer will fix the percentage having regard to the labour and expenditure involved in each case. The charge will, in the first instance, be met from the revenues of the State but will subsequently be debited to the deposit account and credited in the State account in the manner indicated in clause (d) (i) above.

(e) Contribution for leave and pension—In all cases recovery on account of leave and pensionary contribution should be made if additional staff is actually entertained for the land acquisition work. The recovery should be made from time to time, and in any case before the close of each financial year. The recoveries representing leave contributions should be credited to the receipt head corresponding to the service head to which the pay of the establishment is debited, while the recoveries representing the pensionary contributions should be credited to 2066— Contributions and recoveries towards pension and other Remittance Benefits. (see also footnote—1 below list of Major Heads.)

25. All charges should be supported whenever possible by the prescribed vouchers; when these cannot be furnished at once, the Accountant General will place the items under objections, till the necessary vouchers have been obtained.

26. If the awarding officer at any time has in hand any sum in excess of immediate requirements he should repay it into the Treasury for credit to the deposit account. Any balance of the sum originally allotted by the Central Government will be surrendered to that Government at the end of the acquisition proceedings. In the case of a municipality or other body any balance of the sum originally credited to the special deposit head, which is not claimed at the expiration of a year from the date of the award, will be paid into a Civil Court by the officer, in accordance with rule 10.

FORM A

No. and date of statement________________________________

Date of award_________________________________

Name of work for which land has been acquired ____________________________

No. and date of declaration in___________________Gazette, viz. no.____________, dated_________________, page______________________

Statement showing compensation awarded by ___________ under section __________ Act I of 1894 to all the persons interested in the plot of land situated in the village of ______________ in State _________ no. _____________ on the Revenue Roll of the district of _______________ pargana ____________________

No. and date of the letter conveying allotment of funds_______________________

Major, minor and detailed head of account under which the charge is finally adjustable______________________

*To be filled up in the Accountant General’s Office.

NOTES—(1) Each award statement should be confined to the lands to be taken under one declaration, i.e. the awards given for lands acquired under more than one declaration should not be incorporated in one statement, but as many separate statements submitted as there are declaration.

(2) Regarding column 7 see note to statement AA.

FORM AA

Particulars regarding the acceptance by the persons concerned of amounts entered in award statement no._____, dated_____

Name of work for which land has been acquired_____

No. and date of declaration in_____Gazette, viz. no._____, dated_____page_____

No. and date of the letter conveying allotment of funds_____

Major, minor and detailed head of account under which the charge is finally adjustable_____

NOTE— In noting these particulars in the award statement it may be sufficient to enter the letter a, b, c or d, as the case may be, in column 7 of the statement A when the whole amount of the award is shown in one of the four sub-columns a, b, c or d, in this statement.

FORM B

No. and date of statement_____

Name of work for which land has been acquired_____

No. and date of declaration in_____Gazette, viz. no._____, dated_____, page_____

Statement showing the amount of compensation awarded by the Court of_____under section 26 of Act I of 1894

No. and date of the letter conveying allotment of funds_____

Major, minor and detailed head of account under which the charge in finally adjustable_____

(Reverse of Form C)

FORM CC

Consolidated voucher for payment made during_____, 19 . in accordance with award statement no._____dated_____on account of land acquired for_____in the district of_____tahsil_____, mauza_____

No. and date of the letter conveying allotment of funds_____

Major, minor and detailed head of account under which the charge is finally adjustable_____

Paid in my presence* by cheque to the above persons the total sum of rupees*_____Paise_____only

Dated the _____, 19 .

Signature of Officer.

*In words.