Bill No. 05- HLA of 2019 THE PUNJAB LAND PRESERVATION (HARYANA AMENDMENT) BILL, 2019

Haryana Government Gazette EXTRAORDINARY Published by Authority © Govt. of Haryana No. 33-2019/Ext.] CHANDIGARH, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2019 (PHALGUNA 1, 1940 SAKA) HARYANA VIDHAN SABHA SECRETARIAT Notification The 20th February, 2019 No. 05-HLA of 2019/10/3742.— The Punjab Land Preservation (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2019, is hereby published for general information under proviso to Rule 128 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Haryana Legislative Assembly :- Bill No. 05- HLA of 2019 THE PUNJAB LAND PRESERVATION (HARYANA AMENDMENT) BILL, 2019 A BILL further to amend the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900, in its application to the State of Haryana. BE it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Haryana in the Seventieth Year of the Republic of India as follows:- 1. (1) This Act may be called the Punjab Land Preservation (Haryana Amendment) Act, 2019. (2) It shall be deemed to have come into force from the first day of November, 1966, except unless expressly provided. Short title and commencement. 2. In section 2 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900 (hereinafter called the principal Act),- (i) in sub-clause (ii) of clause (f), the word “and” existing at the end shall be omitted; (ii) in clause (g), for the sign “.” existing at the end, the sign “;” shall be substituted; (iii) after clause (g), the following clause shall be added, namely:- “(h) “State Government” means the Government of the State of Haryana .”. Amendment of section 2 of Punjab Act 2 of Substitution of section 3 of Punjab Act 2 of 3. For section 3 of the principal Act, the following section shall be substituted and shall be deemed to have been substituted with effect from the date of publication of this amendment Act in the Official Gazette, namely:- “3. Notification of areas.- (1) Whenever it appears to the State Government that it is desirable to provide for the conservation of subsoil water or the prevention of erosion in any area subject to erosion or likely to become liable to erosion with respect to land in any locality, the State Government may issue a preliminary notification to that effect, so as to invite objections from the persons interested in such lands, which shall be published in the Official Gazette and in two daily newspapers circulating in that locality, of which at least one shall be in Hindi language. (2) Any person interested in any land which has been notified under sub- section (1) may, within sixty days of the date of publication of the notification, may file objections to the said desirability for conservation of subsoil water or the prevention of erosion in such area. (3) Every objection under sub-section (2) shall be made to the Deputy Commissioner in writing and the Deputy Commissioner shall give the objector a reasonable opportunity of hearing in person or by any person authorized by him in this behalf and shall, after hearing all such objections and after making such further enquiries, if any, as he may consider necessary, make a report in respect of the land which has been notified under sub-section (1) as a whole, or make different reports in respect of different parcels of such land to the State Government, containing his recommendations, together with record of proceedings held by him for the decision of the State Government thereupon. The State Government shall consider the recommendations of the Deputy Commissioner and its decision thereon shall be final. (4) When the State Government, after considering the recommendations of the Deputy Commissioner, made under sub-section (3), is satisfied that it is desirable to provide for the conservation of subsoil water or the prevention of erosion in any area, the State Government may, by notification, order accordingly. Every such notification shall be published in the Official Gazette and in two daily newspapers circulating in that locality of which at least one shall be in Hindi language. (5) Every notification issued under sub-section (4) shall be valid for the period stated therein which shall not exceed thirty years from the date of the publication of such notification: Provided that wherever the period of validity is not stated in the notification, such notification shall be deemed to be valid for a period of thirty years from the date of the publication of such notification.”. Insertion of section 3A in Punjab Act 2 of 4. After section 3 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:- “3A. Act not to apply to certain lands.- The provisions of this Act shall not apply to- (a) the lands included in the final development plans, any other town improvement plans or schemes published under the provisions of- (i) the Punjab Town Improvement Trust Act, 1922 (Punjab Act 4 of 1922); (ii) the Punjab Scheduled Roads and Controlled Areas Restriction of Unregulated Development Act, 1963 (Punjab Act 41 of 1963); (iii) the Faridabad Complex (Regulation and Development) Act, 1971 (42 of 1971); (iv) the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975 (8 of 1975); (v) the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 (16 of 1994); (vi) the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority Act, 2017 (34 of (vii) the Faridabad Metropolitan Development Authority Act, 2018 (9 of 2019); (viii) any other Act, Statute or Order that the State Government may notify from time to time, where date of publication of such plan or scheme is:- (I) prior to the date of the publication of the Punjab Land Preservation (Haryana Amendment) Act, 2019, in the Official Gazette; or (II) later than the date of the publication of Punjab Land Preservation (Haryana Amendment) Act, 2019 in the Official Gazette but prior to the date of publication of applicable and subsisting special order, if any, issued under section 4 or section 5 of this Act; (b) the lands forming part of any public infrastructure, including rail, roads, canals, public institutions, government or public establishments created or developed up to a date prior to the date of the publication of Punjab Land Preservation (Haryana Amendment) Act, 2019 in the Official Gazette or required for development of such public infrastructure in future as the State Government may notify from time to time; and (c) land which have been under bona-fide agriculture use save and except those lands whose owners have consented for inclusion of their lands under the purview of this Act. Note.- Land recorded in the relevant revenue records as being used for the time being for agriculture uses shall be deemed to be land under bona-fide agriculture use for the purposes of this clause.”. 5. In section 4 of the principal Act,- (i) the words ‘generally or’ and the words ‘general or’ shall be omitted; (ii) in clause (g), for the sign “.” existing at the end, the sign “:” shall be substituted; and (iii) the following proviso shall be inserted at the end, namely:- “Provided that the period of validity of any order issued under this section shall not exceed the period of validity of the corresponding notification published under section 3 of this Act.”. Amendment of section 4 of Punjab Act 2 of 1900. 6. After section 4 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:- “4A. Power to regulate felling of trees.- (1) In respect of areas notified under section 3, the State Government may, in whole or any part of such areas, by general order temporarily regulate, restrict or prohibit the cutting of trees and timber. (2) The period of validity of any order issued under sub-section (1) shall not exceed the period of validity of the corresponding notification published under section 3 of this Act. (3) All subsisting general orders issued under section 4 prior to the date of publication of Punjab Land Preservation (Haryana Amendment) Act, 2019 in the Official Gazette shall be deemed to have been issued under sub-section (1) of this section. (4) All orders issued under this section shall be solely for the purpose of temporarily regulating, restricting or prohibiting felling of trees and not for regulating any other activity or imposing restrictions or change in the permissible land use for such area. Note.- For the removal of any doubt, it is declared that all the subsisting general orders issued under section 4 or notifications made there under prior to the date of publication of the Punjab Land Preservation (Haryana Amendment) Act, 2019 in the Official Gazette shall also be subject to the provisions of sub-section (4), solely for the purpose of temporarily regulating, restricting or prohibiting felling of trees and not for regulating any other activity or imposing restrictions or change in the permissible land use for such area.”. Insertion of section 4A in Punjab Act 2 of Amendment of section 5 of Punjab Act 2 of 7. In section 5 of the principal Act,- (i) for the sign “.” existing at the end, the sign “:” shall be substituted; (ii) the following proviso shall be added at the end, namely:- “Provided that the period of validity of any order issued under this section shall not exceed the period of validity of the corresponding notification published under section 3 of this Act.”. Insertion of section 6A in Punjab Act 2 of 8. After section 6 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:- “6A. Power to amend or rescind.- The State Government may, if it finds necessary so to do and after recording reasons thereof in writing, amend or rescind, any notification or order made under the provisions of this Act.”. Insertion of section 18A in Punjab Act 2 of 9. After section 18 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:- “18A. Power to exempt.- If the State Government is of the opinion that the operation of any of the provisions of this Act or any part of notification or order issued under this Act, as the case may be, causes or has caused undue hardship or circumstances exist which render it expedient so to do, it may, subject to such terms and conditions, as it may impose, by an order, exempt any class of persons or areas or land from all or any provisions of this Act.”. Insertion of section 23 in Punjab Act 2 of 10. After section 22 of the principal Act, the following section shall be added, namely:- “23. Savings.- (1) The orders and notifications issued under this Act shall be deemed to have been amended so as to exclude the categories of land covered under section 3A with effect from the date of issuance or publication of such orders or notifications. (2) For the removal of doubts, it is declared that- (a) the lands, excluding those covered under section 3A, shall continue to remain included in the orders or notifications issued under section 3, 4 or 5 or deemed to have been issued under section 4A for the periods stated therein; (b) wherever the period of validity is not stated, such order or notification shall be deemed to be valid for a period of thirty years from the date of its commencement; and (c) after the expiry of the period stated in such orders or notifications, the regulations, restrictions or prohibitions imposed therein shall cease to exist. STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS The Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900 (Punjab Act II of 1900), hereinafter referred to as ‘PLPA’, was enacted by the then Government of Punjab in 1900. The Act provides for the conservation of subsoil water and/or prevention of erosion in areas found to be subject to erosion or likely to become liable to erosion. The intent behind the PLPA and its area of jurisdiction has evolved over a period of time. The first major amendment of immediate relevance was carried out in 1926 (Punjab Act VII of 1926) whereby it was clarified that the provisions of the Act never intended to extinguish the ownership rights of the people. Through the said amendment, from the existing expression ‘temporarily or permanently’ as appearing in the section 4 and section 5 of the PLPA, the expression ‘or permanently’, was omitted. This amendment is in conformity with the constitutional right granted under Article 300-A of the Constitution of India. The subsisting orders and notifications issued under section 4 and/or section 5 of PLPA extend over an area of about 10,94,543 hectares or about 10,945 sq. km. accounting roughly for about 25% of the total geographical area of the State. These orders and notifications extend to the geographical area, wholly or partly, of 14 out of 22 District in the State. Almost the entire districts of Gurugram, Rewari and Mahendergarh are covered under these orders and notifications. A vast proportion of these lands include privately owned lands and lands that have traditionally as well as legally been under agriculture and other non-forestry uses, including lands forming part of public infrastructure such as rail, roads, canals, public institutions and government establishments. Most of the area were covered under the orders and notifications under PLPA with the primary objective of regulating tree felling (State of Haryana not having a separate ‘Tree Act’ for regulating felling of Trees). Such orders and notification were never issued either for effecting the changes in the existing land uses or to regulate the permissible land uses. The lands covered under these orders and notifications were never directly or indirectly intended to be brought under the purview of the rigors or forest or related laws. Further, PLPA, as amended in 1926, provides only for temporary and not permanent restrictions, regulations and prohibition. However, over a period of time a number of changes have come to force with various interpretations of the provisions of the PLPA from time to time, in particular with respect to considering the areas notified under PLPA as “forest” and making expiry of notifications issued under section 4 and or 5 inconsequential thereby rendering extinguishment of the ownership right almost permanently. These have also led to large tracts under agriculture, public, infrastructure, residential, institutional, commercial and other uses becoming liable to be considered as unauthorized activities and unlawful uses even where these were explicitly permitted and came up strictly in conformity and in accordance with the then existing applicable law governing such land use and activities undertaken thereupon. Lakhs of dwelling units, commercial buildings, industrial units, public buildings and massive public infrastructure and agriculture activities over about one fourth of the geographical area of the State are affected. Sale and purchase of such lands and immoveable properties have become liable to be considered a illegal. Such unintended consequences adversely impacting livelihood of millions of citizens and need to be allayed and remedied. The felling of trees in the state is being regulated by issuance of general orders under section 4 of the PLPA. It is desirable that for effective regulation of tree felling, a specific and separate provision for the same is introduced in the act while putting to rest any ambiguity or doubt in this regard. There is no provision in PLPA to provide reasonable opportunity of being heard before imposing restrictions, prohibitions and regulations with respect to an area being proposed to be brought under such restrictions, prohibitions and regulations. In order to adhere to the principles of natural justice, it is required to be provided. PLPA does not have any provision to rectify, amend or de-notify the orders and notifications issued under the act even where the same have been found to have inherent defects, mistakes or where certain lands have been inadvertently included or found to have been issued in violation of the prescribed procedure. In addition, PLPA does not have any provision for re-notifying and or extending the period of the orders and notifications. The PLPA also does not have provisions for removal of difficulties or responding to exigencies warranting exemptions to be afforded in exceptional cases. The enabling provisions in these regard are required to be introduced and incorporated. In the above background and to address the concerns effectively, it is warranted that the PLPA is appropriately amended and owing to the exigencies explained, certain provisions of proposed amendments need to be made applicable from retrospective effect. Therefore, now it is required to amend section 2, section 3, section 4 and section 5 of the PLPA and, further, also required to insert section 3A (after section 3), section 4A (after section 4), section 6A (after section 6), section 18A (after section 18) and section 23 (after section 22) of the PLPA. Hence, this Bill. RAO NARBIR SINGH, Forest & Wild Life Minister, Haryana. The 20th February, 2019. Secretary. [izkf/kd`r vuqokn] 1900 dk iatkc 1900 dk iatkc 1900 dk iatkc vf/kfu;e 2 esa 1900 dk iatkc 1900 dk iatkc 1900 dk iatkc 1900 dk iatkc 1900 dk iatkc 1900 dk iatkc jko ujchj flag]