What are the new amendments to Gujarat’s Disturbed Areas Act?

President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to the amended Disturbed Areas Act passed by the Gujarat Legislative Assembly last year

Under the Disturbed Areas Act, the concerned Collector notifies a particular area of a city or town as ‘disturbed area’. Under the Act, the transfer of any immovable property in disturbed areas cannot be done without permission of the district collector concerned.

As reported by Indian Express, The government had received large scale complaints from MLAs and others of people skirting the provisions of the Act by taking advantage of the legal loopholes in it. In the earlier Act, the Collector had to only see that the seller is selling the property of his free volition and if he/she has got fair market price on the basis of the latter’s affidavit.

However, it was realised that at a number of places in disturbed areas, some anti-social elements were selling and buying properties by threatening people or luring them with higher price.

To stop people from acquiring properties in disturbed areas through illegal means, the act proposes imprisonment between three to five years along with a fine of Rs one lakh or ten per cent of the value of the property, whichever is higher

Proposed Bill has enlarged the scope of the term “transfer”. The term now includes sale, gift, exchange, lease or taking possessions of property by way of power of attorney, through Transfer of Property Act, etc.

According to The Wire, Under the amended Act, the collector can now check if there is any “likelihood of polarisation”, “disturbance in demographic equilibrium” or any “likelihood of improper clustering of persons of a community” if the transfer takes place.

The collector can reject the application of transfer after making an assessment on these grounds, said the release, adding that the aggrieved person can now file an appeal with the state government against the collector’s order.

The act also empowers the state government to set up an apex authority – Monitoring and Advisory Committee – to study and advise the authorities on the subject. The committee will be consisting of a chairperson and other members as may be appointed by the state government.