Notification and acquisition: preliminary notification, objections and declaration

1. The preliminary notification: section 11

Whenever it appears to the appropriate Government that land in any area is required or likely to be required for a public purpose, it issues a preliminary notification with details of the land. Section 11(1) requires publication in five ways:

• in the Official Gazette;
• in two daily newspapers circulating in the locality, one in the regional language;
• in the local language in the Panchayat or Municipality and in the offices of the Collector, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate and the Tahsil;
• on the website of the appropriate Government; and
• in the affected areas, in the prescribed manner.

Immediately afterwards the Gram Sabha (or municipality, or the Autonomous Council in Sixth Schedule areas) must be informed of its contents at a meeting called for the purpose (section 11(2)). The notification must state the nature of the public purpose, the reasons for displacement, a summary of the SIA report and the particulars of the Administrator for rehabilitation and resettlement (section 11(3)).

Two consequences follow from publication.

• Bar on transactions (section 11(4)). From the date of publication until the proceedings are completed, no person may transact in the notified land or create an encumbrance on it. The Collector may exempt an owner in special circumstances recorded in writing. Loss suffered by wilful violation is not made good by the Collector.
• Updating of land records (section 11(5)). The Collector must update the land records within two months, before the declaration under section 19.

The date of the section 11 notification also fixes the date for determining market value (proviso to section 26(1)), which is why the notification matters in every compensation dispute.

2. Survey and damage: sections 12 and 13

Section 12 authorises officers to enter and survey the land, take levels, dig or bore into the sub-soil, set out boundaries and mark them, and if necessary cut standing crops, fences or jungle. Three safeguards apply:

• the survey is to be done in the presence of the owner or a person authorised by him in writing;
• it may be done in his absence only if he was given at least sixty days’ notice; and
• no building, enclosed court or garden attached to a dwelling may be entered without the occupier’s consent or seven days’ written notice.

Under section 13 the officer must pay or tender payment for any damage caused at the time of entry. A dispute about the amount goes to the Collector, whose decision is final.

3. Objections: section 15

Any person interested in the notified land may object within sixty days of the preliminary notification to:

• the area and suitability of the land proposed to be acquired;
• the justification offered for the public purpose; and
• the findings of the SIA report.

Objections are made in writing to the Collector, who must hear the objector in person, through an authorised person or through an advocate. After any further inquiry he reports to the Government with his recommendations, the record of proceedings, the approximate cost of acquisition and the number of affected families likely to be resettled. The Government’s decision on the objections is final (section 15(3)), subject to judicial review.

The hearing is a real one. A decision that ignores objections, or a report written without hearing the objector, is open to challenge under Article 226 for breach of the right to be heard, which Kolkata Municipal Corporation v. Bimal Kumar Shah, 2024 INSC 435, treats as one of the procedural sub-rights inside Article 300A.

4. The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Scheme: sections 16 to 18

While objections are being heard, the rehabilitation track runs in parallel. On publication of the preliminary notification the Administrator conducts a survey and census of affected families (section 16(1)), prepares a draft R&R Scheme with each family’s entitlements and a time limit for implementation, publicises it, discusses it in the Gram Sabhas and holds a public hearing (section 16(2) to (5)). The Collector reviews the draft with the project-level R&R Committee and sends it to the Commissioner for approval (section 17). The approved Scheme is published (section 18). The detail is in the Unit I note on the R&R award.

5. The declaration: section 19

When the Government is satisfied, after considering the Collector’s report under section 15(2), that particular land is needed for a public purpose, a declaration is made under the hand and seal of a Secretary (or other authorised officer). Along with it, the Government declares the resettlement area. Different declarations may be made for different parcels covered by one preliminary notification.

Three conditions precede the declaration:

• the Collector must publish a summary of the R&R Scheme with it (section 19(2) and first proviso);
• the Requiring Body must deposit the prescribed amount, in full or in part, towards the cost of acquisition (second proviso); and
• the deposit must be made promptly so that the declaration can be published within twelve months of the preliminary notification (third proviso).

The declaration is published in the same five ways as the preliminary notification (section 19(4)) and must state the district, the purpose, the approximate area and where a plan may be inspected (section 19(5)). Under section 19(6) it is conclusive evidence that the land is required for a public purpose.

Time limit (section 19(7)). If no declaration is made within twelve months of the preliminary notification, the notification is deemed to be rescinded. Periods during which the proceedings were held up by a court stay or injunction are excluded, and the Government may extend the period by a written decision that is notified and uploaded.

6. After the declaration: sections 20 to 22

• Section 20: the Collector has the land marked out and measured, and a plan made if none exists.
• Section 21: he publishes a public notice on his website and on or near the land, stating that the Government intends to take possession and inviting claims to compensation and to rehabilitation and resettlement. Persons interested must appear on a date not less than thirty days and not more than six months after publication and state their interests, their claims and any objections to the measurements. Individual notice goes to the occupier and to persons known to be interested; those living elsewhere are served by post and through two national dailies.
• Section 22: the Collector may require any person to state the names of co-owners, mortgagees, tenants and others interested, and the rents and profits of the last three years, within not less than thirty days. Such a person is legally bound to do so.

The inquiry and award under section 23 then follow.

How this is examined

“Discuss the provisions relating to notification and acquisition” was the first essay in June 2025. Answer in the order of this note and give every time limit: six months for the SIA, sixty days for objections, twelve months for the declaration, thirty days to six months for the section 21 hearing, and twelve months for the award. “Preliminary notification” was a 6-mark short note in January 2026: write section 11(1) to (5), the market-value date, and section 19(7).