The provision for urgent take-overs bypassing procedure is open to misuse by powerful interests. Invoking "public purpose" to acquire agricultural land for industrial use has caused social tension and bloodshed in the past months. There is another seed of discord hidden in the antiquated Land Acquisition Act. If the developers have their way, they can bulldoze the procedure for acquisition in the name of "urgency". This word is as vague "public purpose" and the courts have written reams of judgments explaining them. Ultimately, it all depends on the facts of the case and the discretion of the court, as the Supreme Court said recently in Sheikhar Hotels vs State of Uttar Pradesh. According to Section 5A, any person interested in the land notified for acquisition can object to the acquisition. However, under Section 17(1), in cases of "urgency", whenever the government so directs, the collector may take possession of the land for public purpose within 15 days, though no award has been made. What is worse is that once the acquisition is declared "urgent", all procedures of hearing objections and making the award are dispensed with. The colonial tinge of the 1894 Act is unmistakable here. In the Sheikhar Hotels case, the land was required urgently for a