HC ‘shocked’ at encroachers owning land through Roshni scheme; Names of 29500 beneficiaries to be put in public; DB hints at CBI probe

Directs action, removal of encroachments on 659 acre forest, state land in Jammu

JAMMU: Expressing its shock over the manner in which the land encroachers have become owners of large trenches of public land by the operation of the now-repealed Roshni Scheme, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Thursday asked the UT government to calculate the value of the public land which has vested in the encroachers, and publish the list of around 30 thousand such beneficiaries in newspapers.
A list of beneficiaries—25000 from Jammu and 4500 from Kashmir region was submitted before the court, which asked the government to inform it of the division of the land in terms of its classification as urban, rural, forest land or of any other nature, before publication.
The court which was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the Jammu and Kashmir State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act—the Roshni Act, also asked the government to ensure that an affidavit is filed by Secretary Revenue Department or any officer of higher rank to authenticate the list, indicating strict action to be followed in days to come.
The court had sought the list of the persons who have been benefited under the infamous scheme in March 2018, but the same was submitted to it only on 27 December, 2019.
A Division bench comprising Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Tashi Rabstan noted that attempts have been made to withhold the information from the court.
“This status report reveals shocking state of affairs which had prevailed and the manner in which the land encroachers in Jammu and Kashmir have become owners of large trenches of public land by the operation of the Roshni Scheme,” said the bench.
The report filed by the government presented the region-wise distribution of the beneficiaries, which included 25000 persons from Jammu and 4500 from Kashmir.
Noting that the report was accompanied with affidavit of the Deputy Commissioner, the court directed the government to file an affidavit of an officer not below the rank of Secretary, Revenue Department affirming before it that the list furnished was correct and complete in all respects.
“Such Affidavit shall be filed within one week from today,” it directed.
The bench expressed its anguish over the non-submission of the list before the Registry of the court for its publication in a newspaper having wide circulation in Jammu and Kashmir.
At this, senior AAG S S Nanda, appearing for the government sought court’s permission to get the publication effected through the Department of Information and Broadcasting, which the court agreed to and ordered for the same.
The court also asked the government to calculate the value of the public land which has vested in the encroachers, and also submit before it the division of the land in terms of its classification as urban, rural, forest land or of any other nature.
The petitioner Ankur Sharma submitted that the list of beneficiaries include several public figures and government officials, seeking time to place before court an extract in this regard, which was allowed.
The court also took note of Sharma’s request for a CBI inquiry into the matter, which allegedly resulted into loss of over Rs 25000 Crore to the public exchequer.
“This matter cannot be ignored under any circumstances and shall be examined on the next date of hearing,” the court said, posting the matter for next hearing on 12 March.
Meanwhile during the hearing, the court was apprised of the recent detection of illegal entries on 659 acres of forest and state land in Jammu.
The court directed the Deputy Commissioner, Jammu to ensure that enquiries in to all such entries is effected expeditiously and that strict action is taken against the public and private person who are responsible for these entries.
It further asked the DC to draw the list of the beneficiaries of such fake entries as well as the persons who were placed in the positions of authority responsibility, when such fake entries were effected in the revenue records.
“All steps for recovering the land which may have been illegally encroached premised on such fake entries shall be taken forthwith and filed a report in this regard,” it directed.