The Gujarat Land Acquisition Officers Proceedings Validation Act, 1949

1949 : Bom. XXXV] 

 

 
GOVERNMENT OF GUJARAT 

LEGISLATIVE AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT 

BOMBAY ACT NO. XXXV OF 1949 

The Bombay Landacquisition Officers Proceedings 
Validation Act, 1949 

(As modified upto the 31st October, 2006) 

 



1949 : Bom. XXXV] 

THE BOMBAY LAND ACQUISITION OFFICERS PROCEEDINGS VALIDATION ACT, 1949. 

.................................... 

CONTENTS 

PREAMBLE PAGE NO. 

SECTIONS. 

1. Short title and extent. 

2. Definitions. 

3. Validation of notices, awards, proceedings, etc., under the 

 Land Acquisition Act, 1894. 

4. Validity of notices, awards, proceedings, etc., relating to acquisition 

 not to be questioned and bar of suits and proceedings. 

5. Application of sections 2 to 4 to pending suits and proceedings. 

6. Insertion of new section 52A in Act I of 1894. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



1949 : Bom. XXXV] 

BOMBAY ACT No. XXXV OF 1949.1 

[THE BOMBAY LAND ACQUISITION OFFICERS PROCEEDINGS VALIDATION ACT, 1949.] 

[14th October, 1949] 

An Act to remove certain doubts and to established the validity of certain proceedings 
taken for acquisition of lands in the Province of Bombay. 

WHEREAS the Provincial Government had declared certain lands in the Province of 
Bombay to be needed for public purposes and for the purposes of certain companies 
under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 ; 

AND WHEREAS the Provincial Government had appointed certain officers under clause 
(c) of section 3 of the said Act to perform the functions of the Collector and had directed 
certain officers under section 7 of the said Act to take order for the acquisition of the 
officers appointed or directed ; 

AND WHEREAS certain officers other than those who were so appointed or directed 
took proceedings under the said Act in respect of the acquisition of some of the said 
lands, instead of the said Lands under the said Act ; 

AND WHEREAS doubts have been raised as to the validity of the proceedings taken by 
the officers who were not duly appointed or directed ; 

AND WHEREAS it is expedient to remove the said doubts and to validate the 
proceedings taken and acts done by the said officers; 

AND WHEREAS it is also expedient to provide that any proceedings which may hereafter 
be taken for the acquisition of lands under the said Act shall not be invalid only on the 
ground that the proceedings are taken by officers other than those who were appointed 
or directed to take the said proceedings ; It is hereby enacted as follows :- 

1. (1) This Act may be called the Bombay Land Acquisition Officers 
Proceedings Validation Act, 1949. 

 (2) It extends to the whole of the Province of Bombay. 

2. In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,- 

 (a) “said Act” means the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 ; 

I of 1894 

Short title and 
extent. 

Definitions. 



1949 : Bom. XXXV] 

 (b) “said date” means the date on which this Act comes into force ; 

 (c) “said lands” means the lands which before the said date were, declared 
by the Provincial Government under section 6 of the said Act as being 
needed for a public purpose or for the purposes of a company and any 
proceedings for the acquisition of which were taken by officers who 
were not duly appointed or directed to take such proceedings ; 

 (d) “Special Officers” means officers who took proceedings for the 
acquisition of the said lands but who were not duly appointed as the 
Collectors under clause (c) of section 3 or were not directed to take 
order for their acquisition under section 7 of the said Act. 

3. Notwithstanding anything contained in the said Act,- 

 (1) (a) all notices given, inquiries held, disputes decided, orders taken or 
made, awards made an all acts done before the said date by the 
Special Officers purporting to act as the Collectors under the said 
Act, in respect of the said lands ; 

  (b) all declarations made by the Provincial Government under 
section 6 of the said Act in respect of the acquisition of the said 
lands as being needed for a public purpose or for the purposes of 
a company before the said date ; 

  (c) all agreements executed before the said date by companies in 
respect of any of the said lands, declared to be needed for their 
purposes; and all other proceedings taken by the Special Officers 
for the acquisition of the said lands before the said date, 
including the proceedings for taking the possession of any of the 
said lands in pursuance of the provisions of the said Act, 

  shall be deemed to be and always to have been validly given, held, 
decided, taken, made, done or executed, as the case may be, and any of 
the said lands, the possession of which has been so taken, shall be and 
always to have been vested in the Crown, under the said Act ; and 

 (2) it shall be lawful for the Special Officers, or any other officers who may 
be duly appointed or directed by the Provincial Government under the 
said Act, to take such proceedings, to take or make such orders, to make 
such awards or to do such other acts as may be necessary for the 

Validation of notices, 
awards, proceedings, 
etc., under the Land 
Acquisition Act, 1894. 



1949 : Bom. XXXV] 

completion of the acquisition of the said lands under the said Act or any 
other law for the time being in force. 

4. (1) The validity of any notice, inquiry, dispute, order, award or declaration 
and any proceedings including the proceedings for taking possession of 
the said lands given, held, decided, taken or made, or purporting to 
have been given, held, decided, taken or made, as the case may be, in 
connection with the acquisition of the said lands under the said Act shall 
not be called in question ; and 

 (2) no Court shall have jurisdiction to entertain or try any suits or legal 
proceedings against the Provincial Government or against any of the 
Special Officers or any other officers of the Provincial Government, 
acting or purporting to act under the said Act in connection with the 
acquisition of the said lands, only on the ground that the proceedings 
for such acquisition were illegal or irregular by reason of the fact that 
any of the Special Officers was not duly appointed to perform the 
functions of a Collector under clause (c) of section 3, or was not duly 
directed to take order for the acquisition under section 7 of the said Act. 

5. The provisions of sections 2 to 4 (both inclusive) shall apply, notwithstanding 
the pendency of any suit or other proceeding in any Court, either in a Court of 
first instance or in a court of appeal, on the said date. 

6. After section 52 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, in its application to the 
Province of Bombay, the following section shall be inserted, namely :– 

 “52A. Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions, a 
Collector may, subject to the general or special orders of the Provincial 
Government, delegate any of his powers or functions under this Act to 
any officer not below the rank of a Mamlatdar or to a Land Acquisition 
Officer specially appointed by the Provincial Government in this behalf.” 

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1. For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Bombay Government Gazette, 1949, Part V, page 
258. 

Validity of notices, 
awards, proceedings, 
etc., relating to 
acquisition not to be 
questioned and bar 
of suits and 
proceedings. 

Application of 
sections 2 to 4 to 
pending suits and 
proceedings. 

Insertion of new 
section 52A in Act I 
of 1894. 

Delegation.