EBC's V. G. Ramachandran's The Law of Land Acquisition and Compensation by Justice M. L. Singhal – Ninth Edition, 2027

Eastern Book Company publishes the Ninth Edition (2027) of V. G. Ramachandran's The Law of Land Acquisition and Compensation, revised by Justice M. L. Singhal. An 864-page hardbound volume, and the standard Indian treatise on the subject — cited in acquisition and compensation litigation for decades.

Land acquisition is among the most heavily litigated areas of Indian law, and almost all of it turns on two questions: was the acquisition valid, and is the compensation adequate. Both are worked out far more in the decisions of the Supreme Court and the High Courts than in the bare text of the statute, which is why a treatise of this kind remains the working tool rather than a bare act.

What the treatise covers

• The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 — the governing statute, with its social impact assessment, consent requirements, and rehabilitation and resettlement entitlements.
• The acquisition process — preliminary notification, objections and hearing, declaration of intended acquisition, the award, and taking of possession, with the time limits and the consequences of breaching them.
• Lapse of acquisition proceedings — one of the most litigated questions of the last decade, and the line of Supreme Court authority around it.
• Urgency provisions and the limits on dispensing with enquiry.
• Determination of compensation — market value and the methods of valuation, comparable sale instances, deduction for development, potentiality of the land, solatium, interest and additional amounts.
• Apportionment and reference to court, the role of the Collector and the Reference Court, and enhancement of compensation.
• Appeals, revision and execution, and the scope of writ jurisdiction in acquisition matters.
• Rehabilitation and resettlement, and acquisition for private companies and public-private projects.
• The position under the repealed Land Acquisition Act, 1894 where it continues to govern pending proceedings, and the transition between the two regimes.

Why this edition

• Ninth Edition, 2027 — updated with the recent decisions of the Supreme Court and the High Courts.
• 864 pages, hardbound, built for sustained reference use.
• Revised by Justice M. L. Singhal, carrying forward a treatise founded by V. G. Ramachandran.
• Valuation treated in depth — the part of the subject on which the money actually turns, and which shorter works skim.

Who should buy this book

• Advocates appearing in land acquisition references, enhancement appeals and writ petitions.
• Judges and Reference Court officers determining compensation.
• Land Acquisition Collectors and revenue officers, and state acquisition departments.
• Infrastructure, highway, railway and power companies and their in-house counsel, and PSUs acquiring land.
• Registered valuers and surveyors working on compensation valuation.
• Law libraries, academics and judicial service aspirants.