21[(1)] 22[After making a declaration under section 6] the 23[State] Government may acquire the land and thereupon the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter in this section referred to as the said Act), shall, so far as may be, apply:
Provided that
(a) if in any case the 23[State] Government so directs, the Collector may, at any time after a declaration is made under section 6, take possession, in accordance with the rules, of any beel, boor, tank or other watery area, or 24[any waste or arable land] in respect of which the declaration is made and thereupon such land shall vest absolutely in the 25[Government] free from all encumbrances;
26[* * *]
(b) in determining the amount of compensation to be awarded for land acquired in pursuance of this Act the market value referred to in clause first of sub-section (1) of section 23 of the said Act shall be deemed to be the market value of the land on the date of publication of the notification under sub-section (1) of section 4 for the notified area in which the land is included subject to the following condition, that is to say,
*[if such market value 27[in relation to land acquired for the public purpose specified in sub-clause (i) of clause (d) of section 2] exceeds by any amount the market value of the land on the 31st day of December, 1946, on the assumption that the land had been at that date in the state in which it in fact was on the date of publication or the said notification, the amount of such excess shall not be taken into consideration.]
28*[(2) When the amount of compensation has been determined under sub-section (1), the Collector shall make an award in accordance with the principles set out in section 11 of the said Act, 29[and the amount referred to in sub-section (2) of section 23 of the said Act shall also be included in the award].]
309. Power to dispose of land acquired under the Act. (1) Where the State Government decides to lease or sell any land acquired in pursuance of this Act, the person or persons from whom the land was so acquired shall, in such manner as the State Government may direct, be offered a prior right to take on lease or to purchase the land on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the State Government.
(2) If, in any case, two or more persons claim to exercise a right offered under sub-section (1), the right shall be exercisable by such of the claimants as the State Government may determine after such enquiry as it thinks fit.
10. Execution of development scheme and disposal of land. (1) The 31[State] Government may direct the prescribed authority to execute any development scheme sanctioned under sub-section (2) of section 5 or cause it to be executed in accordance with the rules and upon the execution of the scheme as so directed the lands comprised therein shall be disposed of by the Collector in such manner as may be directed by the 31[State] Government.
(2) If the 31[State] Government so thinks fit, it may also empower a Company or a local authority to execute, at its own cost, any such development scheme and to dispose of the lands comprised therein on such terms and conditions including conditions relating to the manner of disposal of land as may be settled by the 31[State] Government and embodied in an agreement to be entered into by the 31[State] Government and the Company or local authority, as the case may be.
11. Withdrawal or power from Company or local authority to execute development scheme or to dispose of land. It, at any time, the 32[State] Government is satisfied that any of the terms or conditions contained in an agreement referred to in sub-section (2) of section 10 is not being complied with, it may, by order served in accordance with the rules on the Company or local authority, as the case may be, withdraw the power conferred on it to execute any development scheme or to dispose of the lands comprised therein or both and may thereafter make such arrangement in that behalf as it may deem fit and proper.
12. Protection of action taken under this Act. No suit, prosecution, or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or any rule or order made thereunder.
13. Delegation of powers. The 33[State] Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that any or all of the powers conferred upon it by this Act shall be exercisable also by such authority subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the notification.
14. Power to make rules. (1) The 34[State] Government may make 35rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality or the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:
(a) the designation, constitution and manner of appointment of the prescribed authority;
(b) the preparation of development schemes and the particulars to be submitted with development schemes referred to in sub-section (1) of section 5;
(c) the manner of taking possession of land referred to in clause (a) of the proviso to section 8;
(d) the execution of development schemes referred to in section 10:
(e) the manner of service of orders referred to in section 11.
15. Continuance of action taken under West Bengal Ordinance II of 1948. Any appointment or rules made or any notification issued or anything done or any action taken or any proceeding commenced in exercise of any power conferred by or under the West Bengal Land Development and Planning Ordinance, 1948 (West Ben. Ord. II of 1948), shall, on the said Ordinance ceasing to operate, be deemed to have been made, issued, done, taken or commenced in exercise of powers conferred by or under this Act as if this Act had commenced on the 27th day of April, 1948.