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The Peculiar Circumstances Of Eminent Domain In India, Priya S. Gupta

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The question of a constitutional property regime governing eminent domain gave rise to nuanced and principled debates in the Constituent Assembly of India, which drafted the Indian Constitution between 1947 and 1950, and in subsequent Parliamentary meetings regarding constitutional amendments. However, these extensive deliberations resulted in a clause that only addressed the most superficial aspects of property rights in India. Similarly, the statutory frameworks that govern state acquisition of land, in particular The Land Acquisition Act, 1894, provide only another part of the puzzle. This paper starts earlier in history-at the inception of eminent domain in India-in order to put …