PROPERTY AND CONTRACTCentral

Section 19 of The Airports Authority of India Act, 1994

Any land required by the Authority for the discharge of its functions under this Act shall be deemed to be needed for a public purpose and such land may be acquired for the Authority under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1 of 1894) or of any other corresponding law for the time being in force.

Summary

Whenever the Authority needs land to carry out its official duties, that need is legally classified as a public purpose.
Because it is considered a public purpose, the government has the power to compulsorily acquire private land and give it to the Authority.
This forced purchase of land must be carried out following the rules of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, or any similar land acquisition law that is currently active.

Practical examples

1The Authority needed to extend the runway safety zone at the Kolkata airport in March 2018. The empty plot next to the boundary was owned by a private transport company that refused to sell. Using this provision, the government compulsorily acquired the plot from the company at fair market value because airport safety is a public purpose.

2In order to install a new ground-based navigation beacon, the Authority identified a specific hill location owned by a local farmer named Prakash. On August 22, 2020, the government initiated formal acquisition proceedings under the relevant land laws, forcing the sale so the Authority could build the crucial aviation infrastructure.

FAQ

1. Can the government force me to sell my land to the Authority just for any commercial reason?

The land can only be acquired if it is required by the Authority to discharge its specific functions under the Act, which legally makes it a public purpose.

2. Does the Authority simply seize the land overnight without warning?

No, the compulsory acquisition must follow the formal procedures and compensation rules laid out in the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, or a corresponding law.

3. What does the term public purpose actually do in this context?

It removes legal roadblocks by automatically treating the Authority's operational need for land as a benefit to the general public, which is the necessary legal trigger for the government to step in and buy the land compulsorily.

Test yourself

Q1.Under Section 19 of The Airports Authority of India Act, 1994, how is land that is required by the Authority for its functions legally classified?

Q2.Under Section 19 of The Airports Authority of India Act, 1994, which specific historical law is explicitly mentioned as a framework for acquiring land for the Authority?

Q3.Under Section 19 of The Airports Authority of India Act, 1994, who ultimately carries out the compulsory acquisition of the land for the Authority?

Q4.Under Section 19 of The Airports Authority of India Act, 1994, what condition must be met for the land to be compulsorily acquired?

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