Moot court Moot court problem, Study notes of Law

Download Moot court Moot court problem and more Study notes Law in PDF only on Docsity! In keeping with the goal of establishing a comprehensive, participative and meaningful process of land acquisition that the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 espouses, the Central Government issued the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Social Impact Assessment and Consent) Rules, 2014 on 8th August. The rules have been designed to serve 3 principal objectives. First, they seek to put in place a robust framework for conducting a comprehensive analysis of the social impact of the proposed acquisition along with obtaining the consent of land owners. Second, they aim to put in place adequate safeguards as well as checks and balances to ensure that the social impact assessment is free and fair and that the consent is not acquired by any coercive method. Finally, they clearly delineate the time period within which the acquisition has to be completed in order to make the entire process more expeditious. Notably, they require the Appropriate Government to maintain a web-based work flow and information management system to track every step of the acquisition process. Against this backdrop, it would be apposite to succinctly analyze some salient features of the Rules. Social Impact Assessment Unit In order to lend credibility to the acquisition process, the Rules impose an obligation on the central or state government to appoint an independent organization as the Social Impact Assessment Unit that has to oversee the Social Impact Assessment. The Unit has to maintain a database of qualified independent practitioners and social activists, regularly conduct studies to add to its database and formulate strategies for improving the quality, efficacy and transparency of the assessment process. It must consistently strive to take capacity building measures to improve the quality of social impact assessment teams in particular and the entire process in general. It has to formulate the terms of reference of Social Impact Assessment for any acquisition proposal and determine the estimated cost of the assessment with a clear break-up of the amount required for every activity or item. Thereafter, the body requiring the land has to pay the assessment fee to the Unit which is to be used for conducting the assessment. Social Impact Assessment Team The Rules explicitly state that a new Social Impact Assessment Team (“the Team”) has to be constituted in order to conduct a thorough social impact assessment for every project. The criteria for the appointment of members to such a team has to be in accordance with the terms of reference that is prepared by the Unit which sets out the intricacies of the tasks that the Team has to perform. Ideally, the Team should include independent practitioners, qualified social activists, academics and technical experts and must necessarily include 1 female member. One team leader has to be appointed to act as a connecting link between the Unit and the Team. A bare perusal of these provisions brings to light 2 interesting features. First, the Rules repeatedly assert that the organization which wishes to acquire the land must not be involved in any way in the appointment of the Social Impact Assessment Team. In fact, every member is required to sign a written undertaking stating that they do not have any relationship with the body wishing to acquire the land and any conflict of interest shall result in immediate disqualification. Second, it is heartening to note that the Rules emphasize the importance of ensuring that only those who have a considerable amount of experience in the area of land acquisition are appointed to conduct the Social Impact Assessment. At a time when most quasi-judicial and administrative bodies are unable to fulfill their goals and perform their assignments due to excessive governmental interference and incompetent members, it is hoped that this framework will go a long way in increasing the public’s faith in the process of land acquisition. Process of conducting Social Impact Assessment The Rules impose an obligation on the Team to assiduously analyze the relevant quantitative and qualitative data, undertake frequent site visits and employ other strategies such as focused group discussions, detailed rural appraisals, informant interviews, etc to fully appreciate the nuances that would shape and influence the views of land owners whose land is sought to be acquired. Furthermore, the Team is obligated to scrutinize relevant land records and data, to conduct field verifications and to compare the proposed project with existing projects that are of a similar nature. All local authorities have been mandated to provide relevant information that would allow the Team to formulate a more informed view about the effect of acquisition within 10 days of receiving the request for such information. The investigation of the Team should focus on the following cardinal areas: A. The areas that would be most adversely affected by the project, especially from an environmental and social standpoint; B. The quantum of land that is sought for the project and whether it is more than what is necessary; C. The feasibility of executing the project on other alternative sites; D. In the case of scheduled areas, whether the acquiring body is able to prove that the land that they wish to acquire is a demonstrable last resort; E. Whether any land has already been acquired and the utility of every plot of land that is sought to be acquired; F. Whether any public unutilized or waste/barren land can be used for the project; G. A detailed analysis of the type, structure and location of the land. In case of an agricultural land, the irrigation coverage and cropping pattern must be analyzed. H. Whether the acquisition would be in accordance with food security laws or not; and