HYDERABAD: There is a move to define the term `Collector' in accordance with the Central Land Acquisition Act, 1894, for giving clarity in the wake of petitions challenging the acquisition of land under the Outer Ring Road (ORR) project by the Special Collector.

Court stay

Interestingly the need to redefine the term was felt after decades as the amended Land Acquisition Act, 1976, was being interpreted differently for the ORR project by some land losers.

They contended that the district Collector alone was empowered to acquire land.

When some land losers under the ORR project in Shamshabad area filed a writ in the High Court that the land acquisition notice given by the Special Collector and ORR Project Director was not valid as per the Land Acquisition Act, 1976, the court granted a stay on technical grounds and land acquisition was suspended.

Recently, a similar petition was filed by a person of Kollur in Medak district and a stay was granted again on land acquisition for the ORR Phase II A.

Following this the Government realised the necessity to bring in an ordinance to redefine the term `Collector' as originally mentioned in the 1894 Act wherein the term `Collector' as per Section 3 (c) was defined to include `district Collector', `Deputy Commissioner' or any other person specially empowered by the State Government.

It may be mentioned here that the Central Land Acquisition Act, 1894, was amended in 1976 by the State Government to cut the delay in the land acquisition process for big projects requiring massive tracts of land like Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.

Term replaced

The State thus conferred the powers on the `District Collector' and those designated as `Special Collectors' for acquiring land but while adopting the amendment, the term `Collector' was replaced with `District Collector'.

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