The cabinet yesterday approved a draft law that proposes paying three times the market value of land acquired by the government as compensation for the owners.

If a private organisation acquires land for public interest, like setting up a school, it would have to pay four times the market value.

“The Immovable Asset Acquisition and Requisition Act-2017” also has a provision that would allow the authorities to acquire land of religious institutions for public interest.

As per the law approved in the cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, the market price of the acquired land would be based on a year's average going rate of same kind of land in the area, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told reporters after the meeting.

He said the existing law was an ordinance promulgated in 1982. The Ministry of Land placed the draft before the cabinet in line with an earlier cabinet decision to transform all ordinances into acts after translating those into Bangla to comply with a court order, he added.

The draft law has a provision for acquiring the land of places of worship, like mosques, temples, churches, and pagodas alongside graveyards, crematoriums for any obligatory public interest.

The ordinance does not allow acquiring such land.

"But, as per the proposed law [Section 4(13)], such land could be acquired if it is crucial for public interest,” he said, adding, “The persons and the organisations willing to acquire such places of worship will relocate or rebuild those with their own funds."

The cabinet secretary said if, for example, there was a mosque on a road and was obstructing movement of people, then the mosque could be relocated. 

He said as per the existing ordinance, an official equivalent to an additional district or session's judge is appointed as arbitrator in such cases.

As per the proposed law, there would be joint district or sub-judges in this position, he said, adding that an official equivalent to a district judge would hear the appeals regarding land acquisition.

The cabinet approved in principle the draft law on December 5 last year and formed a committee headed by the law minister to review it citing that land was a complex issue.