Congress to move SC against Telangana's Land Acquisition Act

The Congress in Telangana today said it will challenge the land acquisition law enacted by the state government in the Supreme Court.
The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Telangana Amendment) Act will not stand legal scrutiny, said Pradesh Congress Committee president N Uttam Kumar Reddy.
"The Land Acquisition Act, 2013 passed by the UPA government was in the interest of all farmers of the country. However, KCR (Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao) has amended the Act in Telangana for narrow considerations. This is unfortunate," he told reporters here.
"We don't think it will stand legal scrutiny. The Telangana Congress is going to challenge this new Land Acquisition Act in the Supreme Court," Reddy said.

The government last week issued a gazette notification for the Act, paving the way for its implementation. The bill received Presidential assent recently.
The state government had passed the land acquisition bill in both houses of legislature on December 28 last year. However, the Centre suggested some changes in the bill. The state Assembly and Council made the changes suggested by the Centre and passed the bill in a special sitting on April 30.

The Act, which overrides the 2013 UPA law, would make land acquisition easier and faster for the state government to take up irrigation projects and other development programmes.

Reddy criticised the TRS government for its plan to build a new Secretariat at the historic Parade Ground here, saying it was an "unnecessary" move.
On BJP chief Amit Shah's Telangana tour, the TPCC chief said he must apologise to people as the NDA government has "failed" to fulfil the promises made to the state under the AP Reorganisation Act.
Shah is on a three-day tour of the state from today.