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Paper short abstract:

The study discusses justice issues surrounding land acquisition issue in a Global South country (India). It highlights the operation and exploitation of asymmetrical power relations to undermine cultivators' land rights.

Paper long abstract:

The land acquisition for energy transition has been associated with different kinds of injustices (distributive, procedural, recognition, and restorative) across the globe, including India. The protests due to these injustices have often caused delays in project implementation as well as scaling down of the project’s original capacity. This, in turn, has slowed down the pace of solar deployment and energy transition in India. The study explores the justice issues surrounding the development of the solar plant in Mikir Bamuni village in the state of Assam, India. The 15 MW solar plant, developed by Azure Power, has been at the centre of the protests by the cultivators, whose land has been acquired in violation of the state statutes. Through interview with different stakeholders, the study finds that the state agencies were complicit in the unlawful land acquisition by concealing (or misleading) important facts and information about the cultivators’ rights to the acquired land. In this context, the limitation of the role of the state and public policy as state’s tool to dispense justice is highlighted. Moreover, the importance of restorative justice, in the form of adequate compensation, is also underscored, particularly when other kinds of injustices can’t be addressed. In this context, the role of social movements will be examined.