Section 13 Land Acquisition Act 2013 - Payment for Damage

Section 13 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 deals with payment for damage caused when an authorised officer enters land for a preliminary survey under Section 12.

What Section 13 provides

Section 13 operates together with Section 12. Section 12 authorises specified preliminary survey activities for determining the extent of land proposed to be acquired. Section 13 protects against uncompensated survey damage by requiring the authorised officer to pay or tender payment when entering under Section 12.

Section 13 - Payment for damage

The officer authorised under Section 12 must, at the time of entry under that section, pay or tender payment for damage caused. If there is a dispute regarding the sufficiency of the amount paid or tendered, the officer must immediately refer that dispute for decision to the Collector or other chief revenue officer of the district. The statutory provision states that such decision is final.

Meaning and legal effect of Section 13

The provision creates an immediate obligation connected with the exercise of survey powers. It is not the same as the compensation ultimately payable for acquisition of land. Its focus is damage caused by the preliminary survey activity carried out under Section 12.

Payment or tender at the time of entry

The authorised officer is required to pay or tender payment for damage at the time of entry under Section 12. The provision therefore links the obligation directly to the exercise of the statutory survey power.

Dispute about sufficiency of payment

If the amount paid or offered is disputed as insufficient, the authorised officer is required to refer the dispute at once to the Collector or other chief revenue officer of the district for decision.

Connection with Section 12

Section 12 permits an authorised officer, servants and workmen to undertake activities such as entering and surveying land, taking levels, digging or boring into the sub-soil, marking boundaries and carrying out other specified acts needed for the preliminary survey. Section 13 addresses damage caused in the course of such entry and survey activity.

Key point: Section 13 concerns payment for damage arising from survey entry under Section 12. It should be read in the context of the notification and acquisition procedure contained in Chapter IV of the 2013 Act.

Official legal sources

The current central Act may be checked on the official India Code portal. The Department of Land Resources, Government of India, also publishes the RFCTLARR Act, Rules and related official material.

India Code - RFCTLARR Act, 2013 Department of Land Resources - Government of India

This article explains the central statutory provision for general legal information. State amendments, rules, notifications and case-specific facts may also be relevant.