Land-grabbing and encroachment has been a major concern for the government. Talking tough on the incidents of land grabbing, Hon'bleSupreme Court of India has cautioned the judiciary to be careful in granting title to the claimants on ground of adverse possession of such land. The court also took note of the connivance of land grabbers with the authorities to raise illegal constructions and regularisation of their illegalpossession. Hon'ble Apex Court observed"No amount of vigil can stoр encroachments and unauthorised occupation of public land by unscrupulous elements, who act like vultures to grab such land, raise illega 1 construction s and, at times, succeeded in manipulating the state apparatus for getting their occupation/possession and construction regularised.It is our considered view that where an encroacher, illegal occupant or land grabber of public property raises a plea that he has perfected title by adverse possession, the court is duty bound to act with greater seriousness, care and circumspection. Any laxity in this regard may result in destruction of right/title of the state to immovable property and give upper hand to the encroachers, unauthorised occupants or land grabbers."
Experts on the revenue law and administration are sceptical whether the government would be able to deal with the land-grabbing menace properly. Our existing law is not tough enough to deal with landgrabbers. It's high time the government should enact a stringent law to deal with land encroachment. According to revenue law experts from the State of Odishathe existing Orissa Prevention of Land Encroachment Act, 1972, lacks teeth to effectively deal with encroachment. The law deals with the government land only, and the revenue and civil courts can only evict an encroacher. Under the law encroachment is a not a cognizable offence punishable under the law and the courts do not have criminal powers.This situation looks to have become the main source Ο f corruption of corrupt practices on part of the Estate/Land Wings. In addition, big pieces of lands, which may include compact blocks, under the possession of various departments not being used for the purposes for which it was given to them and later taken over /grabbed by unscrupulous persons and the departments cannot get physical retrieval in their favour. This fact becomes more important and rather painful when the government itself proceeds to acquire private lands/properties for public purpose under the Land Acquisition Act, after making payments of heavy amounts to the property-owners/occupiers in terms of compensation.
This state of affairs is very alarming which warrants special attention of the concerned authorities. In this connection, a vigorous campaign also needs to be launched against the mafia irrespective of their status or political affiliations. The government should also make out a sustainable policy underlying a methodology as how to get the state land back from these encroachers. It may also be plausible to invoke lodging complaints in the respective courts for their dispossession, in addition to other criminal proceedings as provided under the law for the actions. After having inflicted convictions/punishments upon such offenders by the courts, the lands could be retrieved through a legal process under the Court orders. Itis noteworthy that habitual offenders in this arena occasionally prefer to indulge in the protracted litigation by instituting frivolous cases/suits, with intent to procure status-quo or stay orders from the courts. Once they succeed to obtain a stay order, they always try to linger on those cases for years on flimsy grounds. District collectors or sub-divisions are vested with certain powers to eject the trespassers and squatters with punishment/imprisonment, to be awarded by the magistrate.
More importantly, concerted efforts and effective strategy need to be adopted for the preservation of the remaining lands from the reach of unscrupulous elements having ill designs and ulterior motives. It is relevant to mention here that such illegal occupations are quite impossible to happen without the connivance of the lower functionaries under the aegis of their high-ups, with an obvious purpose of indulging in corruption or corrupt purposes to satisfy their ill designs and, in certain cases, under the directions of their political masters. Appeasement has no place in upholding Law. Public demonstration and succumbing to the illegal demand on local sentiments brings inconsistency to the law on the subject and parallelly strengthens the manipulators in the state apparatus for dealingthe individual cases as per the requirements /consideration leading to corrupt practices.Apart from above, if the competent authorities reach at a conclusion that the criminal action, in terms of their forcible dispossession, or removal of encroachments, including that of the old structures/constructions existing thereon, is not to be initiated, owing to certain ground-realities i.e. dislodging of poor and shelter-less families or likelihood of erupting any law & order situation, a workable plan/policy duly backed by the legal framework should alternatively be devised to dispose of such pieces of state lands at the market rates or through open auctions, the first right to be given to the actual encroachers.Though this action need discouragement still in extreme conditions it will, no doubt, legalise their possession by giving them proprietary rights on one hand and deposit of heavy amounts to the government exchequer on the other.
Housing and occupational needs are key factors for rising cases of land encroachment in urban areas. Urban slums are the best example to show that how urban poor are fulfilling their housing needs by encroachment in areas which are vulnerable for health and life.One thing to be noticed with serious concern is that there exists no credible data/record as to the available state lands with the concerned departments at the district or provincial level, with exactitude, and the extent of pieces of lands under unauthorised occupation. With the change of manual systems to that of computerisation of land records, this aspect has been changed. There seems to be marginal gaps in between the available record and the ground situations. A detailed survey with special reference to urban areas is, therefore, required to be carried out on war-footing so that the state property could be protected for its best utilisation. At a time when the country is passing through an upheaval, there is a real need to either retrieve the state properties for better utilisation in the years to come or to procure maximum monetary benefits in terms of earning heavy revenue into the government treasury. The cases under litigation must be sorted out with a deep eye towards uncalled for stay orders issued by various courts, without leaving this work at the mercy of lower formation or the state counsels.
Now-a-days it is a burning issue and the authorities particularly in Delhi NCR are taking action against the land-grabbing and encroachment. Demolition and Sealing of illegal structures and other actions are being initiated. One thing to be noticed with serious concern is that there exists no credible data/record as to the available state lands with the concerned departments at the district or provincial level, with exactitude, and the extent of pieces of lands under unauthorised occupation. With the change of manual systems to that of computerisation of land records, this aspect has been changed. There seems to be marginal gaps in between the available record and the ground situations. A detailed survey with special reference to urban areas is, therefore, required to be carried out on war-footing so that the state property could be protected for its best utilisation. At a time when the country is passing through an upheaval, there is a real need to either retrieve the state properties for better utilisation in the years to come or to procure maximum monetary benefits in terms of earning heavy revenue into the government treasury. The cases under litigation must be sorted out with a deep eye towards uncalled for stay orders issued by various courts, without leaving this work at the mercy of lower formation or the state counsels.
(Source: AMDA News Bulletien)
