House told that the matter is pending with the Supreme Court
Shimla | TNR
The Land Holding Amendment Bill was referred to a select committee after discussion in the Assembly. The proposal to refer the Bill to the select committee was put forward by revenue minister Mahendra Singh Thakur.
Discussion on proposed amendment
While discussing this amendment, Opposition MLA Ashish Butel said that this Bill has been challenged by the Kangra Valley Tea-Plantation Association in the Supreme Court. He said that people who had not benefitted from the Land Ceiling Act should be kept out of the purview of the amendment. He suggested that the government should always keep the rights for acquiring tea plantation land with itself, because such lands may be needed for development purposes at any point in time.
Rights for acquiring land in excess of accepted limits should stay with the government : Singha
Theog MLA Rakesh Singha pointed out that though he was a member of the committee which had suggested and sent the Bill for amendment, he was not aware of the case being under the consideration of the Supreme Court. He said that the allotted limit as per the Land Improvement Act was 10, 15 and 30 acres, though this stretched to 70 acres in tribal areas. The government should retain the right to acquire land from anyone who had it in excess of the stipulated limit, he said. Before passing the Bill for amendment, Singha felt it was necessary to wait for the Supreme Court verdict on the case.
