Amid objections from Opposition members, Gujarat Assembly on Tuesday passed an amendment Bill that proposes to make provisions for disposal of the land which is ‘unauthorisedly occupied or wrongfully in possession of any person’ through invalid transfer by vesting it in the state government.
The Bill was passed by a majority vote in the House.
The Bill proposes to amend The Saurashtra Gharkhed, Tenancy Settlement and Agricultural Lands Ordinance, 1949, that is in force in Saurashtra region of the state.
The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill states, “It is considered necessary to amend section 75 of the Saurashtra Gharkhed, Tenancy Settlement and Agricultural Lands Ordinance, 1949 so as to make provision for disposal of the land which is unauthorisedly occupied or wrongfully in possession of any person, by vesting such land in the State Government, free from all encumbrances lawfully subsisting thereon on the date of such vesting.”
An amendment in the Bill also proposes that if the collector, suo-motu or on the application of any interested person, has a reason to believe that a person is holding wrongful possession of a land through invalid transfer, such land can be disposed of in a manner specified in the Bill. Such land, it is proposed, has to be restored to the position that it was in before such invalid transfer. Such land can also be vested in the state government.
It has also been proposed that if the Collector comes to a decision that transfer of a land is invalid then he can pass an order imposing a penalty of three times the amount of the prevailing Jantri of the land on the person or the institution in whose favour such land is not validly transferred.
Presenting the Bill, Minister of State for Revenue Sanjaysinh Mahida said that the existing law has a provision that if a person is holding a land through invalid transfer then the Collector can order summary eviction of the land.
“However, in the case of illegal transfer, it does not have the provisions for the clear process of restoration of the land and vesting it in the state government,” Mahida said.
He added that the amendment Bill has been brought to bring “clarity of law, simplification of the process” and “to protect the interest of farmers”.
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“This amendment will bring effective control on transfer of agricultural land in favour of non-farmers and farmers’ interests will be protected,” the minister said.
Congress, AAP raise objections
Congress and AAP members, however, raised objections to the Bill.
Participating in the debate on the Bill, Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani raised questions on the proposed role of district collectors in ensuring to vest the land which is unauthorisedly possessed. Mevani claimed that he can show 200,00 bigha land parcels in the state which have been allotted to tribals, Dalits, landless labourers and ex-armymen and are encroached upon and those encroachments are not being cleared for the past 25 years.
He added that the people of deprived classes whom the land has been allotted are not being given the actual possession of that land by the offices of district Collector and the revenue department for the past 25 years. Mevani said that he has been raising the issue in the House for the past eight years, but the actual possession of the land parcels is not being given.
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“The intention (of the Bill) is good, stopping non-farmers from acquiring agricultural land. But will the revenue department and the collector have similar intentions?” he added.
Another Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar too opposed the Bill, while questioning its timing. Parmar asked if why does the government could not utilise the Land Grabbing Act in such cases of invalid transfer of agricultural land. “I certainly think that the government has brought this Bill not in the interest of farmers…but to benefit some big industrialist. And so, this Bill cannot be supported under any circumstances,” Parmar said.
BJP MLA C J Chavda spoke in support of the Bill while saying that it has been brought with an intention of taking back land from whoever is possessing it through invalid transfer. He said, “Such land will either be given back to the original farmers or vest in the state government.”
He also said that the Bill has been brought to bring parity in three laws in force in the state.
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AAP MLAs Hemant Ahir and Gopal Italia too had spoken against the Bill. Italia had proposed some amendments to the Bill like holding the concerned government officials accountable for the invalid transfer of land at the relevant time. The amendments suggested by Italia were, however, rejected by the House through a voice vote.
In his reply to the debate, Mahida said that the objective of the Bill is to stop non-farmers from acquiring farm land and making the law stricter and providing protection to farmers. Stating that some members are speaking without reading the Bill, he accused them of making political statements. He said it is the BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi which has actually cared for the tribals, Dalits and the poor.
Following the minister’s reply, the Bill was put for voting and was passed through voice vote.
Existing law has a provision that if a person is holding a land through invalid transfer then the Collector can order summary eviction of the land. However, in the case of illegal transfer, it does not have the provisions for the clear process of restoration of the land and vesting it in the state government, says Sanjaysinh Mahida, Minister of State for Revenue.
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Why does could the government not utilise the Land Grabbing Act in such cases of invalid transfer of agricultural land? I certainly think that the government has brought this Bill not in the interest of farmers…but to benefit some big industrialist, says Shailesh Parmar, Congress MLA.
