The principles laid down for the determination of compensation, as clarified by judicial pronouncements made from time to time, reflect the anxiety of the law-giver to compensate those who have been deprived of property, adequately enough in the sense that they are to be given gold for gold and not cooper for gold. In other words, the compensation has to be adequate compensation.

The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 deals with the acquisition of land in Pakistan by the State for public purpose or for company or for temporary period. The procedure for acquiring land both by Government for public purposes and for company has been described in the Land Acquisition Act.

Acquisition by Government

Whenever it appears to any Provincial Government that land in any locality is needed for public purpose, a notification to that effect shall be published in the official gazette. In a notification issued under the Act, the particulars of the land necessary for defining and identifying it need not be stated. All that is necessary is that the notification should mention that the land is needed for a public purpose. But the notification issued under subsequent sections must contain sufficient description of the land to be acquired and must indicate precisely the particulars and the identity of the land sought to be acquired. A notice which is vague, ambiguous and uncertain cannot be a valid notification. The purpose of a notification is only to enable the authorities to carry out a preliminary investigation for deciding whether the land intended to be acquired is suitable for the purpose for which it is needed. It is sufficient if the notification only mentions that the land is needed for a public purpose without specifying the boundaries or the cadastral numbers of the land.

The object of the service of the substance of the notice is to afford an opportunity to the interested persons to file objections under Section 5(a) of the Act which confers valuable rights on the interested persons. Purpose of issuance of notification is that landowners be vigilant and on alert. Such notification has to be published and its copies affixed at conspicuous places on the land to be acquired or at conspicuous place in the village where land was situate. Concerned agency after publication of such notice could proceed further or withdraw further proceedings in peculiar circumstances and situations.

Collector / Revenue Officer is required to take immediate necessary steps to have the area surveyed and submit his report to the Commissioner not later than 60 days from the date of publication of the notification.

After issuance of a notification, landowners are to be on alert that their lands are likely to be acquired. At that time they may raise objections within 30 days after the issue of the notification. Every objection shall be made to the Collector / Revenue Officer in writing, and the Collector/ Revenue Officer shall give the objector an opportunity of being heard either in person or by pleader and after hearing the objections, the Collector/ Revenue Officer shall make further inquiry and submit the case for the decision of the Provincial Government, together with the record of the proceedings held by him and report containing his recommendations on the objections. The decision of the Provincial Government on the objections shall be final.

Recital in notification under section 6 is a declaration which is conclusive evidence that land was needed for public purpose or for company. Requisition of property already in occupation of Government in such cases would be acquiring of property under Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

The Collector / Revenue Officer after all the process of notices shall thereupon cause the land to be marked out. He shall also cause it to be measured, and if no plan has been made thereof, a plan to be made of the same.

Section 9 prescribes the next step to be taken by the Collector/ Revenue Officer and its object is to ascertain who are the persons interested in the land and to give them opportunity to put their claims to compensation for their respective interests, and their objections (if any) to the measurements made under section 8. With this view he must issue two notices. The one is a general or 'public notice' to be given in the locality, intimating the fact of the proposed acquisition and inviting claims for compensation from all persons interested in the land. The other is a special or personal notice to be served on the occupant and on all other persons believed to be interested in the land, and to the same effect. The former thus throws a duty on all persons interested, to apprise the Collector/ Revenue Officer of his interest and claim within the specified time; and the latter enjoins the Collector / Revenue Officer to ascertain with all reasonable means, the names of persons interested. The issue of a notice to requiring any person to make a statement containing the name of every person possessing any interest in the land or any part thereof as co-proprietor, sub-proprietor, mortgagee and tenant or otherwise is discretionary and not compulsory. Section 10 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 requires the amount of rents and profits to be given for a period of three years next preceding the date of the statement. It is not possible to assess claim for compensation on the rents and profits for one year only. Three years is the period taken in Government estimates; hence a statement for three years was considered as fair. The Collector/ Revenue Officer may also require information about the person or persons interested in the land or any part thereof.

On the day so fixed, or on any other day to which the enquiry has been adjourned, the Collector/ Revenue Officer shall proceed to enquire into the objections (if any) which any person interested [and a Department of Government, a local authority, or a Company, as the case may be] has stated pursuant to a notice given under section 9 to the measurements made, and into the value of the land [at the date of the publication of the notification under section 4, subsection (1)], and into the respective interests of the persons claiming the compensation and shall make an award under his hand of:

• The true area of the land;
• The compensation which in his opinion should be allowed for the land; and
• The apportionment of the said compensation among all the persons known or believed to be interested in the land, of whom, or of whose claims, he has information, whether or not they have respectively appeared before him; and
• The costs which, in his opinion, should be allowed to any person who is found to be entitled to compensation and who is not entitled to receive the additional sum of fifteen percent, mentioned in subsection (2) of section 23 as having been actually and reasonably incurred by such person in preparing his claim and putting his case before the Collector/ Revenue Officer:

Provided that the Collector/ Revenue Officer may disallow wholly or in part the costs incurred by any person if he considers that the claim made by such person is extravagant. (Clause (iv) as mentioned above only applies to Karachi city).

An award shall be final and conclusive evidence as between the Collector/ Revenue Officer and the person interested and not between co-claimants. Inquiry should not be of summary character. Persons effected should be heard and given opportunity to adduce evidence. Collector's functions cannot be delegated. Land Acquisition Collector/ Revenue Officer while making inquiry and award is not bound by any particular procedure or mode of inquiry. In making award, Collector/ Revenue Officer does not act as a Judicial Officer and is only bound to exercise his own judgment in respect of assessment of compensation. Proceedings before Collector resulting in award are administrative and not judicial in nature. Award would become final when filed in the office of Collector unless it was modified, reversed or annulled by the Court in a reference or appeal. Finality is attached to the award in so far as the parties before the Collector or District Judge are concerned but a person who is not a party to the proceedings would obviously be at liberty to file a suit as he would not be bound by the award. It refers to an interested person whether he has appeared before the Collector or not, to be bound by the award in relation to the specified matters. Award under section 11 is final and conclusive evidence as between Collector and persons interested and not between co-claimants.

Collector/ Revenue Officer though is not a judicial officer but he is empowered by section 14 to exercise certain quasi-judicial functions and he has the powers to summon and enforce the attendance of witnesses including the parties interested or any of them and to compel the production of documents by the same means as is provided for Civil Courts, under Code of Civil Procedure. Collector's jurisdiction in acquisition cases under the Act is dependent upon prior publication of notice under section 4(1). A Collector/ Revenue Officer, in the performance of his functions under the Act, would appear to be simply an Inquiry officer charged with the duty to acquire land for public purposes, to ascertain its value and to deliver his award from which no appeal/ revision would lie to any Court.

When the Collector has made an award then he may take possession of the land, which shall vest absolutely in the Government and the land will be free from all encumbrances.