Jan Vishwas bill moots fine, jail for grabbing govt land

NEW DELHI: Unlawful occupation and encroachment of govt land and public premises would attract heavy fine as well as jail — proposes the second edition of the Jan Vishwas Bill that seeks to curb this menace by linking penalty to value of land, in addition to six months prison.

The bill — introduced in Lok Sabha on Friday — proposes to amend Section-11 of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act that at present provides for six months’ jail or with Rs 5,000 penalty or both. As per the proposal, the fine would be 5% of land value for every year of occupation or both — penalty and jail. Officials said this would deter encroachment and check land grabbing.

It also proposes penalties for unauthorised occupants of public premises. In such cases, offenders would be liable to pay 40 times the licence fee — rent to govt — for the first month, with penalty increasing progressively by 10% every subsequent month under a telescopic formula. For repeat offenders, the penalty would be 50 times the licence fee for the first month and escalating monthly, a move aimed at taking strict action against those illegally occupying govt premises or land.

To curb nuisance — drunkenness, sitting on floor, spitting, carrying offensive materials and holding demonstrations — on metro trains, the bill seeks to amend some provisions of the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act to increase fine from Rs 500 to Rs 2,500.

The bill also proposes to amend 20-odd provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act. These include allowing vehicle registration throughout a state instead of particular jurisdiction of an RTO; and permitting a driving licence to be renewed with effect from the date of its renewal and not from the date of its expiry in case applied after expiry.

It proposes to increase the time period for reporting cancellation of registration for vehicles from 14 days to 30 days, and the time for intimating the insurer with respect to transfer in the certificate of insurance from 14 days to 30 days.

The bill also proposes to replace “fine” with “penalty”. While the fine is disposed of by the court of law, the penalty can be collected by a regulatory authority.


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