HIGHLIGHT
The trial of land grab cases would be conducted in special courts
The offender would be punished with imprisonment for a period of at least one year but it may be extended to seven years, with fine, which may extended up to Rs 20,000
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, June 10: In a strong preventive step against government land grabbing and encroachments in urban areas, the state government has announced the coming into being of a new law envisaged under the ‘Orissa Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Ordinance 2015’. After it won nod from President Pranab Mukherjee, the law department has issued a gazette notification dated May 28, 2015.
“The state government has issued the gazette notification. The definition of land grabbing has been defined in the ordinance and hereby the land grabbing is treated as a cognizable offence,” revenue and disaster management secretary Mona Sharma said here Wednesday.
The revenue and disaster management has approached the law department to frame rules for setting up of special courts, where such cases would be heard, she said. “There have been large- scale encroachments and unauthorised occupation of land, and the existing laws are insufficient to meet the challenge posed by the menace of land-grabbing in the state of Orissa, particularly in urban areas. It is felt necessary and expedient to arrest and curb the unlawful activity of land grabbing,” the notification said.
The ordinance would apply to all lands situated within the limits of municipal corporations, municipalities, notified area councils, development authorities constituted under Orissa Development Authorities Act 1982, special planning authorities constituted under the Orissa Town Planning and Improvement Trusts Act 1956, land belonging to government adjacent to the national highway and to the state highway and to such other local authority as the government may specify by notifications.
Land grabbing in any form is hereby declared unlawful and any activity connected with or arising out of land grabbing shall be an offence punishable under this ordinance, it said.
As per the provision, the offender would be punished with imprisonment for a period of at least one year but it may be extended to seven years, with fine, which may extended up to Rs 20,000. If any company committed the offence, the company as well as every person in-charge of the company and all persons responsible to the company for the conduct of its business would be deemed to be guilty, it said.
However, the ordinance also made some room for the company authority to prove them innocent. “Nothing in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent commission of such offence,” stated the ordinance.
The trial of land grab cases would be conducted in special courts. The courts will have a chairman and four other members would be appointed by the government. The ordinance would be introduced before the upcoming Assembly session and accordingly it will be converted to new act.
