UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Keep future in mind while acquiring land for public infra: HC

Q1. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Since the right to property is no longer a fundamental right, a State government may take over a citizen's land for a public market complex through an executive order that is not backed by any law.
  2. The Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978 removed the right to property from Part III and placed it in Article 300A.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q2. Several States have proposed or made their own amendments to the central land acquisition law of 2013. In this context, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. A State legislature can amend the central Act in its application to that State because acquisition and requisitioning of property is a Concurrent List subject.
  2. A State amendment that is repugnant to the central Act prevails in that State only if it has been reserved for the President's consideration and has received assent.
  3. Even after such assent, Parliament can later enact a law on the same matter that adds to, amends, varies or repeals the State law.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 1 only

Q3. The Assam Amendment Bill, 2023 to the central land acquisition law of 2013 proposed that projects vital to national security or defence be exempted from Social Impact Assessment, consent requirements and restrictions on acquiring multi-cropped irrigated land. It also proposed that, for such projects, the State may pay a lump-sum amount instead of providing rehabilitation and resettlement. Which of the following inferences can be validly drawn from the above?

  1. For acquisitions covered by the Bill, affected families would lose an entitlement that the central Act ordinarily attaches to every acquisition.
  2. The central Act, as it stands, contains no provision for speeding up acquisition in cases of urgency related to defence.
  3. The Bill would also take away the higher multiple of market value payable as compensation for rural land under the central Act.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q4. With reference to the President's power to promulgate ordinances under Article 123 of the Constitution, which was used for the 2015 changes to the land acquisition law, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. An ordinance may be promulgated even when one House of Parliament is in session, provided both Houses are not in session together.
  2. An ordinance that Parliament neither approves nor disapproves continues to operate until Parliament is next prorogued.
  3. The Supreme Court has held that repeatedly re-promulgating an ordinance without placing it before the legislature is a fraud on the Constitution.
  4. For Parliament to end an ordinance by disapproval before its normal expiry, resolutions disapproving it must be passed by both Houses.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2, 3 and 4 only
  • C. 1, 3 and 4 only
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q5. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Under the 2015 land acquisition Ordinance, acquisitions for categories such as rural infrastructure and affordable housing could be exempted from the requirement of landowner consent.
  2. Under the 2013 Act as originally enacted, landowner consent was not required where the government acquired land for its own projects.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q6. With reference to remedies against land acquisition under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The Act's bar on civil courts entertaining matters that the Collector or the Authority is empowered to determine does not take away a High Court's power to issue writs under Article 226.
  2. A High Court's writ jurisdiction is no wider than the Supreme Court's under Article 32, since both are confined to the enforcement of fundamental rights.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 2 only
  • C. Both 1 and 2
  • D. Neither 1 nor 2