New Delhi: The Law Commission on Friday recommended that the provisions related to the legal right of compensation of a land owner in case of laying down of electricity towers and transmission lines should be incorporated in the Electricity Act, 2003.
The panel also said since land remains a state subject, a number of state governments have come out with different policies on the quantum of compensation to be paid.
“The Commission recommends that the state governments align their policies in accordance with the 2015 right of way guidelines and the 2020 Urban right of way guidelines as this will lend certainty to project costs and also the compensation that a land owner will be entitled to seek,” the panel said.
It made these observations in its report ‘Compensation for damage due to installation of towers and transmission lines under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and the Etectricity Act, 2003’ submitted to the government.
The panel, headed by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi (retd), said the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 has been in operation for almost a century-and-a-half now.
While amendments have been affected time and again, the Commission said it believes that a new legislation, “more suited to the times and milieu”, be enacted to further the progress and advancement made in the field of telecommunication.
It said the new law will also help “plug the gaps” left by the present law.
“The Commission is also of the opinion that the issue pertaining to compensation be fully and clearly spelt out in the new legislation, with separate provisions for public and non-public properties.” The report came after the law panel received a reference from the Karnataka High Court in July last year to suggest modes and methodologies of arriving at and determining compensation on account of erection of towers as well as drawing of power lines under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885.
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