Section 9 in The Land Acquisition (Bihar Amendment) Act, 1960
9. Substitution of new Section for Section 17 of Act I of 1894.
- For Section 17 of the said Act, the following section shall be substituted, namely :-"17. Special powers in cases of urgency. - (1) In cases of urgency whenever the appropriate Government so directs the Collector, though no such award has been made, may on the expiration of fifteen days from the publication of the declaration mentioned in Section 6, or with the consent in writing of the person interested, at any time after the publication of the notification under Section 4 in the village in which the land is situated, take possession of any waste or arable land needed for public purposes or for a Company. Such land shall thereupon vest absolutely in the Government free from all encumbrances."Explanation. - This sub-section shall apply to any waste or arable land, notwithstanding the existence thereon of forest, orchard or trees.(2)Whenever it becomes necessary for the purpose of protecting life or property from flood, erosion or other natural calamities or for the maintenance of communication other than a railway communication or it becomes necessary for any Railway Administration (other than the Railway Administration of the Union), owing to any sudden change in the channel of any navigable river or other unforeseen emergency for the maintenance of their traffic or for the purpose of making thereon a river-side or ghat station, or providing convenient connection with or access to any such station, to acquire the immediate possession of any land, the Collector may, immediately after the publication of the declaration mentioned in Section 6 or, with the consent in writing of the person interested, given in the presence of headman of the village or Mukhiya and Sarpanch as defined in the Bihar Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 (Bihar Act VII of 1948), at any time after the publication of the notification under Section 4 in the village in which the land is situated and with the previous sanction of the appropriate Government, enter upon and take possession of such land which shall thereupon vest absolutely in the Government free from all encumbrances:Provided that the Collector shall not take possession of any building or part of a building under this sub-section without giving to the occupier thereof at least forty-eight house' notice of his intention to do so, or such longer notice as may be reasonably sufficient to enable such occupier to remove his movable property from such building without unnecessary inconvenience.(3)In every case under the preceding sub-section the Collector shall at the time of taking possession offer to the persons interested compensation for the standing crops on such land and for any other damage sustained by them caused by such sudden dispossession and not accepted in Section 24; and, in case such offer is not accepted, the value of such crops and the amount of such other damage shall be allowed for in awarding compensation for the land under the provisions herein contained.(4)In the case of any land to which, in the opinion of the appropriate Government, the provisions of sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) are applicable, the provisions of Section 5-A shall not apply where the appropriate Government so directs or where possession of land has been taken with the consent of the person interested.
