1.Short title, extent and commencement-
(1) This Act may be called the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
(2) It extends to the whole of India except (the state of Jammu and Kashmir).
(3) It shall come into force on the first day of March 1894.
2. [Repeal and Saving] Rep. Partly by the Repealing and Amending Act, 1914 (10 of 1914), s.3 and Sch. II, and
partly by the Repealing act, 1938 (1 of 1938) s.2 and Sch.
3. Definitions. - In this Act, unless there is something repugnant in the subject or context, -
(a) the expression “land” includes benefits to arise out of land, and things attached to the earth or permanently
fastened to anything attached to the earth;
[(aa) the expression “local authority” includes a town planning authority (by whatever name called) set up under any
law for the time being in force];
(b) the expression “person interested” includes all persons claiming an interest in compensation to be made on
account of the acquisition of land under this Act; and a person shall be deemed to be interested in land if he is
interested in an easement affecting the land;
(c) the expression “Collector” means the Collector of a district, and includes a Deputy Commissioner and any
officer specially appointed by the [appropriate Government] to perform the functions of a Collector under this Act;
[(cc) the expression “corporation owned or controlled by the “State” means any body corporate established by or
under a Central, Provincial or State Act, and includes a Government company as defined in section 617 of the
Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), a society registered under the Societies Regulation Act, 1860 (21 of 1860), or
under any corresponding law for the time being in force in a State, being a society established or administered by
Government and a co-operative society within the meaning of any law relating to co-operative societies for the time
being in force in any State, being a co-operative society in which not less than fifty-one per centum of the paid-up
share capital is held by the Central Government, or by any State Government or Governments or partly by the
Central Government and partly by one or more State Governments].
(d) the expression “Court” means a principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction unless, the [appropriate
Government] has appointed (as it is hereby empowered to do) a special judicial officer within any specified local
limits to perform functions of the Court under this Act;
[(e) the expression “Company” means -
(i) a company as defined in section 3 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), other than a Government company
referred to in clause (cc);
(ii) a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860), or under any corresponding law for
the time being in force in a State, other than a society referred to in clause (cc);
(iii) a co-operative society within the meaning of any law relating to co-operative societies for the time being in
force in any State, other than a co-operative society referred to in clause (cc);]
[(ee) the expression “appropriate Government” means, in relating to acquisition of land for the purposes of the
Union, the Central Government, and, in relation to acquisition of land for any other purposes, the State
Government;]
[(f) the expression “public purpose” includes-
(i) the provision of village-sites, or the extension, planned development or improvement of existing village-sites;
(ii) the provision of land for town or rural planning;
(iii) the provision of land for planned development of land from public funds in pursuance of any scheme or policy
of Government and subsequent disposal thereof in whole or in part by lease, assignment or outright sale with the
object of securing further development as planned;
(iv) the provision of land for a corporation owned or controlled by the State;
(v) the provision of land for residential purposes to the poor or landless or to persons residing in areas affected by
natural calamities, or to persons displaced or affected by reason of the implementation of any scheme undertaken by
Government, any local authority or a corporation owned or controlled by the State;
(vi) the provision of land for carrying out any educational, housing, health or slum clearance scheme sponsored by
Government or by any authority established by Government for carrying out any such scheme, or with the prior
approval of the appropriate Government, by a local authority, or a society registered under the Societies Registration
Act, 1860 (21 of 1860), or under any corresponding law for the time being in force in a state, or a co-operative
society within the meaning of any law relating to co-operative societies for the time being in force in any State;
(vii) the provision of land for any other scheme of development sponsored by Government or with the prior
approval of the appropriate Government, by a local authority;
(viii) the provision of any premises or building for locating a public office, but does not include acquisition of land
for companies;]
(g) the following persons shall be deemed person “entitled to act” as and to the extent hereinafter provided (that is to
say)-
trustees for other persons beneficially interested shall be deemed the person entitled to act with reference to any such
case, and that to the same extent as the person beneficially interested could have acted if free from disability.
a married woman, in cases to which the English law is applicable, shall be deemed the persons, so entitled to act,
and whether of full age or not, to the same extent as if she were unmarried and of full age; and
the guardians of minors and the committees or managers of lunatics or idiots shall be deemed respectively the
persons so entitled to act, to the same extent as the minors, lunatics or idiots themselves, if free from disability,
could have acted:
Provided that –
(i) no person shall be deemed “entitled to act” whose interest in the subject matter shall be shown to the satisfaction
of the Collector or court to be adverse to the interest of the person interested for whom he would otherwise be
entitled to act;
(ii) in every such case the person interested may appear by a next friend or, in default of his appearance by a next
friend, the Collector or Court, as the case may be, shall appoint a guardian for the case to act on his behalf in the
conduct thereof;
(iii) the provisions of [Order XXXII of the First Schedule to the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) shall,
mutatis mutandis, apply in the case of persons interested appearing before a Collector or Court by a next friend, or
by a guardian for the case, in proceedings under this Act; and
(iv) no person “entitled to act” shall be competent to receive the compensation money payable to the person for
whom he is entitled to act, unless he would have been competent to alienate the land and receive and give a good
discharge for the purchase money on a voluntary sale.