The Odisha Land Grabbing Prohibition Act, 2015

NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY ODISHA

PROJECT

TOPIC: THE ODISHA LAND GRABBING PROHIBITION ACT, 2015 (CRITIAL

STUDY)

SUBJECT: SCIENCE OF POLITICS

SUBMITTED BY ROLL NO.

 NIYATI SHRIPARNA 068

 SHREY SHARMA 106

SUBMITTED TO

 MRS.(DR) SUVRASHREE PANDA

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 The Odisha Land Grabbing Prohibition Act, 2015

TABLE OF CONTENT

Acknowledgement……………………………………………………………………3
Research Question……………………………………………………………………4
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..5
The Odisha Land Grabbing Prohibition Act, 2015…………………………………..6
 Land Grabbing In Odisha…………………………………………………….7
 Questionnaire and survey report
 Definition…………………………………………………………………….10
 Related Statute……………………………………………………………….11
 The Odisha Town Planning and Improvement Trust Act, 1956…………….12
 International Angle Attached to Land Grabbing………………………….....12
 Case…………………………………………………………………………..13
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………14

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 The Odisha Land Grabbing Prohibition Act, 2015

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The success of any project depends largely on the encouragement and guidance of many. We
take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the
successful completion of this project. We would like to show our greatest appreciation to our
teacher Mrs.(Dr) Suvrashree Panda.We profusely thank them for their tremendous support and
help in making this project a reality. We are also grateful for the guidance and support received
from all our colleagues, with whom the exchange of ideas played a vital role in the shaping of
this project. We are also grateful to our parents for their constant support.

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 The Odisha Land Grabbing Prohibition Act, 2015

RESEARCH QUESTION

Through this project we aim to answer the following question:

 What is Land Grabbing?
 How Odisha Land Grabbing Prohibition Act, 2015 came into place?
 How Land Grabbing is seen Internationally?

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 The Odisha Land Grabbing Prohibition Act, 2015

INTRODUCTION

Land grabbing is the contentious issue of large-scale land acquisitions:“the buying or leasing of
large pieces of land by domestic and transnational companies, governments, and individuals.
Although hailed by investors, economists and some developing countries as a new pathway
towards agricultural development, investment in land in the 21st century has been criticized by
some non-governmental organizations and commentators as having a negative impact on local
communities. Land grabbing is a serious issue that affects the environment, economy, social
welfare and human rights. Despite the global reach of land grabbing, there is no definition that
fully captures the issue. 
Land grabbing is the control - whether through ownership, lease, concession, contracts, quotas,
or general power - of larger than locally-typical amounts of land by any persons or entities -
public or private, foreign or domestic - via any means - ‘legal’ or ‘illegal’ - for purposes of
speculation, extraction, resource control or commodification at the expense of peasant farmers,
agro-ecology, land stewardship, food sovereignty and human rights.”

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Questionnaire
1. What is your age?
 Below 20
 From 20 to 40
 More than 40

More than 40

Column1
From 20 to 40

Below 20

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

2. What is the number of members in your family?

 3 to 5
 5 to 8
 More than 8

More than 8

Column1
5 to 8

3 to 5

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

3. What is the area of land that your family owns?

 Less than 1 acre
 1 to 10 acres
 More than 10 acres

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More than 10 acres

Column1
1 to 10 acres

Less than 1 acre

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

4. In how much area do you do farming?

 25% to 40% of land
 40% to 60% of land
 More than 60% of land

More than 60%

Column1
40% to 60%

25% to 40%

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

5. Do you use your land in any other way except for farming?
 Yes
 No

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 The Odisha Land Grabbing Prohibition Act, 2015

No

Column1

BelowYes 20

0 5 10 15 20 25

6. From when do you own the land?

 More than 1 year
 More than 10 years
 More than 25 years
 Time immemorial

Time immemorial

More than 25 years

Column1
More than 10 years

More than 1 year

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

7. How did you get the land?

 Inherited
 Bought
 Got as gift

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 The Odisha Land Grabbing Prohibition Act, 2015

Got as gift

Column1
Bought

Inherited

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

8. Do you feel that government helps in securing your land?

 Yes to some extent
 Yes to great extent
 No

No

Column1
Yes to a great extent

Yes to some extent

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

9. About how many laws for the protection of your land are you aware of?
 None
 1 or 2
 Around 5
 More than 5

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More than 5

Around 5

Column1
1 or 2

None

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

10. Have you taken the help of any such law?

 Yes
 No

No

Column1

Yes

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

11. Did you find that law helpful?

 Yes
 No

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No

Column1

Yes

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

12. Were the governmental measures sufficient?

 Yes to some extent
 Yes to a great extent
 No

No

Column1
Yes to a great extent

Yes to some extent

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

13. Did you feel that the local administration help you in all the manners possible?
 Yes
 No

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No

Column1

Yes

0 5 10 15 20 25

14. Now do you own that land?

 Yes
 No

No

Column1

Yes

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

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THE ODISHA LAND GRABBING PROHIBITION ACT, 2015 (CRITICAL STUDY)

SIZE- What amount of area equals Land Grabbing?

The amount of land considered a land grab changes depending on local plot sizes. In order to
have a size to identify land grabs, people must look at land holdings in their countries and
determine what the average and culturally adapted sizes are and the range that most holdings fall
into. As an example, in Romania, the point when an agricultural holding no longer blends in is
about 50 hectares: holdings of more than 50 hectares equal less than 1% of all holdings.

PEOPLE- Who can be considered as Land Grabber?

Absolutely anyone can be a land grabber: individuals, groups or companies; public or private;
governmental or non-governmental; domestic or foreign. Land grabbing is not limited to certain
groups or people.

CONTROL-How is the Land Controlled?

Land grabbing is about overall control. Land grabbers can control areas in several ways
including leasing land (sometimes through long-term leases from governments, called
concessions), having tenant farmers or sharecroppers, or actually owning the land. Land can also
be controlled through quota and supply contracts that force people to use the land in a specific
way for the benefit of the land grabber.

LEGALITY- Is Land Grabbing Legal or Illegal?

Land grabbing occurs both legally and illegally within current laws. Most land grabs are actually
legal, meaning the deals obey national and local laws. However, these current laws do not protect
against land grabs. In most cases laws at least tolerate land grabbing if not help it. These unjust
and illegitimate laws encourage land grabbing and abuse human rights by allowing land grabbing
to be a ‘legal’ action.

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USAGE-How is the Land used and for what purpose?

Land grabbers use land in harmful ways and for exclusive purposes. Agricultural uses include
monocultures and non-agro ecological methods (which can even be organic). Other uses include
land speculation, commodification, resource control and extraction (meaning local peoples do
not benefit from the resources). All of these uses threaten food sovereignty, land stewardship and
sovereignty, and human rights.”

LAND GRABBING IN ODISHA

The Odisha Land Grabbing Prohibition Act came into existence “to provide for prohibition of
activity of land grabbing I the state of Odisha and for matters connected therewith or incidental
thereto.”1 In a very strong preventive measure against government land grabbing, and,
encroachment upon the urban areas, the state government announced the coming into being of a
new law foreseen under the ‘Odisha Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Ordinance 2015’. The law
department had issued a gazette notification, dated, May 28, 2015, after it had won a nod from
the then president Pranab Mukherjee.

“The state government had issued the gazette notification. The definition of land grabbing has
been given in the ordinance and now land grabbing is treated as a cognizable offence.”

“The revenue and disaster management had approached the law department to frame rules for
setting up of special courts, where such cases would be heard. There have been large- scale
encroachments and unauthorized occupation of land, and the existing laws are insufficient to
meet the challenge posed by the menace of land-grabbing in the state of Odisha, particularly in
urban areas. It is felt necessary and expedient to arrest and curb the unlawful activity of land
grabbing.”2

The problem of the rich people grabbing the land of the poor people, government authorities,
land of the tribes had existed in Odisha for quite a long time, it also existed back in the late
1900s, laws were formulated, but, they did not have a very impactful effect, the problem
continued, and then Achyuta Samanta grabbed land for the KIIT university after 2004. There had

1
The Odisha Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Ordinance, 2015
2
‘Law to end land grab in Odisha’ Odisha Post (10th June, 2015) <http://www.Odishapost.com/law-to-end-land-
grab-in-Odisha/> accessed on 3rd October, 2018

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been numerous allegations on the founder of the KIIT University Achyuta Samanta regarding
illegal land grabbing, for the constructions of buildings for KIIT KIMS and KISS.

The land so grabbed is of two types:

Confined: The land that that cannot be developed in the horizontal limits, so the grabbing thus
continues in the vertical direction, in a linear shape. There is generally no pre-planned notion of
using this land for huge personal benefits. This land is generally acquired along the sides of the
roads.

Un-confined: The land that is grabbed with the idea to use it to its maximum capacity and thus
extract the maximum benefit by developing it in all directions is called the un-confined land.
This is similar to the land grabbing in the case of KIIT, KISS and KIMS, which was a major
reason for the Odisha Land Grabbing (prohibition) Ordinance, 2015, being promulgated.

Given below is an extract from an Odia local daily, Odisha post:

“Govardhan Nayak, a tribal man has accused the authorities of the premier educational
institutions of acquiring his land 'illegally'. "I had purchased six plots in 2004 which have been
grabbed by Achyuta Samanta and his institute by constructing buildings. Neither have I been
compensated nor allowed to visit my plots," said Nayak. Nayak claimed to have purchased
nearly one acre of land which falls under Pathargadiamouza in 2004. Nearly 405 decimal of land
(plot no 1042, 1047 and 1084) of khata no 453, 146 decimal (plot no 1009) under khata no 454
and 335 decimal of land (plot no 1013, 1007) khata no 455 have been illegally encroached upon
by KIIT and KISS authorities, alleged Nayak. Contacted, KIIT authorities refused to comment
on any land grabbing allegations.”3

Another extract from the Odisha Sun Times, throws light on the situation prevalent in Odisha:

“Leading deemed university KIIT has encroached about 18 acres of forest land, informed Forest
and Environment Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh in the Odisha Assembly today. The Minister

3
‘Tribal man brings land grabbing charges against KIIT, KISS’ dailyhunt(Wednesday, 27thjune
2015)<https://m.dailyhunt.in/news/bangladesh/english/odishatv-epaper-
odishatv/tribal+man+brings+land+grabbing+charges+against+kiit+kiss-newsid-91048405> as accessed on 3rd
October, 2018

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made the statement during the Question Hour in response to an unstarred question by Congress
member Krushna Chandra Sagaria seeking a clarification on the quantum of forest land
encroached by KIIT in Patia and Chandaka areas of Bhubaneswar and what measures the
government has taken to get back the land. Arukh in his reply told the House that KIIT has
encroached 18.100 acre of forest kissam (category) land in Patharagadiamouza of Bhubaneswar.
Cases bearing nos. 640/11 and 641/11 have been filed against KIIT under the Odisha Prevention
of Land Encroachment Act to make the land encroachment free, he added. Similarly, a total of
279.318 acres of forest land have been provided to KIIT and other organizations in Manchester
industrial area, Chandaka industrial area and Jayadev Vihar area of Bhubaneswar according to
information provided by IDCO, the Minister informed.”4

After all these allegations against on various groups and individual the Odisha promulgated an
Ordinance. There had been such laws in other states, but none in Odisha. Odisha government
drew inspiration from these other states which had laws, rules and regulations to deal with the
problem of land grabbing, like Andhra Pradesh. The Andhra Pradesh land grabbing (Prohibition)
came in 1982 to deal with the land grabbers in the state of Andhra Pradesh, “especially in the
urban areas, where the accused land grabbers had been forming bogus co-operative housing
societies, or setting up fictitious claims, and indulging in large scale unprecedented and
fraudulent sales of lands belonging to the Government, local authority, religious or charitable
institutions or endowments including a waqf or private persons, through unscrupulous real estate
dealers or otherwise in favor of certain sections of the people resulting in large accumulation of
unaccounted wealth and quick money to land grabbers”5

The preamble of the Odisha land grabbing (prohibition) ordinance, 2015 is taken from the
Andhra Pradesh land grabbing (prohibition) act, 1982. On close observation, this fact could be
deduced, and, many more sections are also taken from the Andhra Pradesh Land Grabbing
(prohibition), as they are, which clearly portrays that the law makers of Odisha had been inspired
the Andhra government.

4
Odisha Sun Times (Bhubaneswar, march 22nd 2015)<https://odishasuntimes.com/18-ac-forest-land-grabbed-by-
kiit-odisha-min/> as accessed on 3rd October, 2018.

5
Andhra Pradesh Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 1982

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DEFINITION

In a strong preventive step against government land grabbing and encroachments in urban areas,
the state government has announced the coming into being of a new law envisaged under the
‘Odisha Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Ordinance 2015’. After it won nod from President Pranab
Mukherjee, the law department has issued a gazette notification dated May 28, 2015.
“The state government has issued the gazette notification. The definition of land grabbing has
been defined in the ordinance and hereby the land grabbing is treated as a cognizable offence,”
revenue and disaster management secretary Mona Sharma said here Wednesday.
The revenue and disaster management has approached the law department to frame rules for
setting up of special courts, where such cases would be heard, she said. “There have been large-
scale encroachments and unauthorized occupation of land, and the existing laws are insufficient
to meet the challenge posed by the menace of land-grabbing in the state of Odisha, particularly in
urban areas. It is felt necessary and expedient to arrest and curb the unlawful activity of land
grabbing,” the notification said.
The ordinance would apply to all lands situated within the limits of municipal corporations,
municipalities, notified area councils, development authorities constituted under Odisha
Development Authorities Act 1982, special planning authorities constituted under the Odisha
Town Planning and Improvement Trusts Act 1956, land belonging to government adjacent to the
national highway and to the state highway and to such other local authority as the government
may specify by notifications.
Land grabbing in any form is hereby declared unlawful and any activity connected with or
arising out of land grabbing shall be an offence punishable under this ordinance, it said.
As per the provision, the offender would be punished with imprisonment for a period of at least
one year but it may be extended to seven years, with fine, which may extended up to Rs 20,000.
If any company committed the offence, the company as well as every person in-charge of the
company and all persons responsible to the company for the conduct of its business would be
deemed to be guilty, it said.
However, the ordinance also made some room for the company authority to prove them innocent.
“Nothing in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment if he proves
that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to

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prevent commission of such offence,” stated the ordinance.

The trial of land grab cases would be conducted in special courts. The courts will have a
chairman and four other members would be appointed by the government. The ordinance would
be introduced before the upcoming Assembly session and accordingly it will be converted to new
act.

The state government imposed the law through ordinance after finding that there are organized
attempts on the part of the certain lawless persons operating individually and groups to grab
either by force or by deceit or otherwise land belonging to the government or local authorities. 
Stating that the government has decided to set up five special courts to deal with land grabbing
cases, the revenue secretary said that land grabbing in any form is now declared unlawful. 
tate government imposed the law through ordinance after finding that there are organized
attempts on the part of the certain lawless persons operating individually and groups to grab
either by force or by deceit or otherwise land belonging to the government or local authorities. 
Stating that the government has decided to set up five special courts to deal with land grabbing
cases, the revenue secretary said that land grabbing in any form is now declared unlawful. 

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RELATED STATUTE

The Odisha Development Authorities Act of 1982

The Odisha Development Authorities Act, 1982 is an act to provide for the development of
Urban and Rural areas in the State of Odisha according to plan and for matters ancillary thereto
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Odisha in the Thirty third year of the Republic of
India, as follows: Statement of Objects and Reasons-With a view to ensure planned development
of different towns in the State, Regional Improvement Trusts were constituted under the Odisha
Town Planning and Improvement Trust Act, 1956. These Trusts have not been able to fully
achieved the objectives for which they were constituted mainly due to inadequacy of existing
legal provisions. In addition to the existing cities in the State, which are fast growing, large
industrial complexes are coming up at Paradeep, Talcher, Angul and other industrial growth
points. Unless efforts are made from now onwards to ensure a planned development of these
areas, there will be unsystematic and unplanned growth of these areas which may give rise to
serious distortions in future. It is therefore, considered necessary of a constitute Development
Authorities for these areas as well as for other developing and potential urban areas to ensure
systematic and planned growth, with the above objective in view, it is proposed to enact a law
for constitution of development authorities in different areas of the State.

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THE ODISHA TOWN PLANNING AND IMPROVEMENT TRUST ACT , 1956

An Act to provide for the improvement, development and expansion of towns in the state of
Odisha, whereas it is expedient to make provisions for the development, improvement and
expansion of towns in the state of Odisha so as to secure to their present and future inhabitants
sanitary conditions, amenity and convenience; It is hereby enacted by the Legislature of the state
of Odisha in the Seventh Year of the Republic of India, as follows:
In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context-
(1) "betterment charge" means the charge specified by Section 70 in respect of an increase in the
value of land resulting from the execution of an improvement scheme;
(2) "building line" means a line (in the rear of the street alignment) up to which the main wall of
a building abutting on a projected public street may lawfully extend;
(3) "Chairman" means the Chairman of the Planning authority;
(4) "land" has the same meaning as in clause (a) of Section 3 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1 of
1894;
(5) "local area" means any area in respect of which a Planning authority or Special Planning
authority has jurisdiction under Section 6 and Section 80 respectively

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INTERNATIONAL ANGLE ATTACHED TO LAND GRABBING

In a globalized world, property is increasingly shaped by international regulations. The spread

and deepening of economic globalization has highlighted the ever-closer connections between
international legal arrangements governing the global economy on the one hand, and claims to
land and natural resources on the other. As pressures on valuable lands grow and land relations
become more transnational, struggles over land increasingly rely on international law.”
Indigenous peoples have taken cases of intrusions on their ancestral lands to international human
rights bodies. Peasant movements are campaigning to get international recognition for peasant
land rights, their resolve strengthened by concerns about ‘land grabbing’.”
Soft law instruments are making inroads into areas where international lawmakers would
previously not venture.“The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure,
endorsed in 2012 by the UN Committee on World Food Security, provide international guidance
on land tenure — an issue that has traditionally fallen within the exclusive preserve of domestic
jurisdiction.”
International human rights law recognizes the important socio-cultural dimensions of land and
ties property relations to self-determination and the realization of socioeconomic rights.
International investment law, on the other hand, conceptualizes land primarily as a commercial
asset, expressing its value in monetary terms. These two bodies of law also offer different
standards of protection, legal remedies and interpretive approaches: broadly speaking,
investment law provides more stringent protections than human rights law.”
The recent wave of large-scale land deals for plantation agriculture, many under the protection of
investment treaties, could result in more investors bringing claims for land-related disputes.
Increased investment and market access can improve livelihood opportunities in contexts where
there is demand for change. But as pressures on resources increase, poorer people risk being
squeezed out. There is much that policy can do, such as establishing systems to protect rights,
creating space for inclusive decisions and reorienting the direction of travel. At the grassroots
level, there is a need to secure local land rights and strengthen collective capacity to exercise
them.

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CASE

Sawhoyamaxa Indigenous Community v. Paraguay

In 1991 the Sawhoyamaxa community began legal proceedings to claim restitution of their
ancestral lands, taking the case to national courts first and then to the Inter-American Court of
Human Rights. The Paraguayan government resisted these claims, partly on grounds that they
collided with a property title held by a foreign investor protected under an investment treaty.”
In 2014 after 23 years of legal wrangling, Paraguay passed a law providing for the expropriation
of the land and its restitution to the Sawhoyamaxa community.“Paraguay’s Supreme Court of
Justice rejected a constitutionality challenge against this law in late 2014. It remains to be seen
whether the implementation of the law will give rise to investor-state arbitration claims based on
the investment treaty, and with what consequences.”

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CONCLUSION

Since a very long time “it has been coming to the notice of the Odisha State Government that there
have been organised attempts on the part of certain lawless persons operating individually and in
groups to grab either by force, or by deceit or otherwise lands belonging to the Government, a local
authority, a religious or charitable institution or endowment, including waqf or any other private
person. The land grabbers are forming bogus cooperative housing societies or setting up fictitious
claims and including in large scale and unprecedented and fraudulent sales of land through
unscrupulous real estate dealers or otherwise in favor of certain section of people, resulting in
large scale accumulation of the unaccounted wealth. As public order is also adversely affected
thereby now and then by such unlawful activities of land grabbers in the State, particularly in
respect of urban and urbanisable lands, it was felt necessary to arrest and curb such unlawful
activities immediately by enacting a special law in that regard. An Ordinance to provide for
prohibition of activity of land grabbing in the state of Odisha and for matters connected
therewith or incidental thereto was passed on May 26 2015. Making land grabbing a
"cognizable" offence, the state government has promulgated The Odisha Land Grabbing
(Prohibition) Ordinance, 2015 with provision of imprisonment for one to seven years besides
penalty against offenders. The Ordinance also provides for the establishment of a special court
having powers to take suomoto cognizance and try every case arising out of an alleged act of
land-grabbing or on application filed by any officer, authority or person. The court will be
deemed to be a “civil court” and “court of session” for the purpose of the ordinance. The
ordinance would apply to all lands situated within the limits of municipal corporations,
municipalities, notified area councils, development authorities constituted under Odisha
Development Authorities Act 1982, special planning authorities constituted under the Odisha
Town Planning and Improvement Trusts Act 1956, land belonging to government adjacent to the
national highway and to the state highway and to such other local authority. As per the provision,
the offender would be punished with imprisonment for a period of at least one year but it may be
extended to seven years, with fine, which may extended up to Rs20,000. If any company
committs the offence, the company as well as every person in-charge of the company and all
persons responsible to the company for the conduct of its business would be deemed to be guilty.
However, the ordinance made some room for the company authority to prove them innocent.

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Nothing in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment if he proves
that

the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to
prevent commission of such offence.
The trial of land grab cases are conducted in special courts. The courts have a chairman and four
other members appointed by the government.

The state government have expressed serious concerns from a very long time on the overall
provisions and contents of the bill, which have posed a serious threat to the future land rights
and livelihood of dalits, tribals, daily wage earners, slum dwellers and land less marginal
farmers of the state. In Odisha large numbers of poor and marginalized families have been
residing in their houses on government lands and cultivating government lands for a long time as
the main source of their livelihood. They have been critically affected by this bill.  Since the
definition of Land Grabbing and Land Grabber in the said bill, does not distinguish between any
person who is in possession of public land for one’s livelihood, and the influential persons who
have occupied public lands to meet their insatiable greed. Instead of preventing the land grabbing
by vested interests and political elements, the Bill created a catastrophic situation for the poor
and marginalized who were critically dependent on common (government) land for their survival
and livelihood.” 

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