LA Act, 1894 vs.

CB Act 1957
Although it is almost imperative to acquire Land for coal mining purposes for Public sector entities through Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957, there may be bottlenecks while acquiring Land through CBA Act such as: There may be a delay in notification Under section 4(1) for prospecting, Under Section 7(1) for intention to acquire and Under Section 9(1) for final acquisition of land. There has been demand from certain segments to simplify the notification process so that unnecessary delay is prevented during Land Acquisition. (NTPC Faced similar delays for acquisition of Coal Bearing land for its captive coal blocks)

Land Acquisition Act

It grants general power to the GoI to acquire land The Procedure for Acquisition of Land under the Land Acquisition Act involves: i) Identification of Land ii) Notification of Land iii) Declaration of Land iv) Acquisition of Land v) Payment and Ownership of Land

CBA Act
It specifically grants power to the GoI to acquire coal bearing land by notifying in the official gazette, besides, empowering GoI to vest in the Government Company such rights in or over the land Issuance of a preliminary notification of the intention to prospect for coal in a particular area; The Procedure for Acquisition of Land under the CBA Act involves: ii) Receipt of objections, if any, from the public that has an interest in the land iii) Issuance of declaration for acquisition of land iv) Vesting of land or rights in the acquiring public sector company v) Payment of compensation for the land acquired determined on the basis of various factors, including market value of the land and damages and losses sustained on account of such acquisition

The advantages from this act stems from the fact that although there may be objections relating to the compensation awarded, the acquisition of the relevant land for a public purpose cannot be challenged following a declaration to that effect issued by the relevant regulatory authorities Also, the recent amendments sought after in the LA act will make the general acquisition process of land even more difficult.
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