Acquired lands cannot be denotified

Requests for denotification of lands acquired for development projects and which are already in the possession of the government cannot be 'denotified', a circular issued to heads of all departments on Monday said.

"Effecting denotification of lands which have already been subjected to acquisition proceedings under section 15a and 48(1) and taken possession will become illegal as per the Land Acquisition Act and verdicts of the Supreme Court," the legal department said.

The minister for law and parliamentary affairs, H K Patil told reporters here that his department decided to issue the circular, informing officials regarding the legal status, in the wake of a growing tendency to refer denotification requests by land owners to the law department.

In the last three months, he had received at least half a dozen such files, seeking the law department's opinion on such matters, despite officials being aware of law and judgements of Supreme Court, which held that lands once acquired and taken possession of cannot be denotified.

He refused to be drawn into a discussion over whether the circular was issued in the wake of a controversy over the government withdrawing more than 2,400 acres of land given to the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project and in the light of a demand for reconveying 'surplus land' to the owners.

The circular was not aimed at any particular project, he maintained.