STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: In a petition, challenging Communication /order issued by office of the Financial Commissioner (Revenue) (Respondent No. 2) bearing No. LS/Misc-288/2020 dated October 22, 2020 regarding ‘Grant of permission for alienation of land recorded as ‘Gair Mumkin Khad’ whereby all permissions for alienation of lands granted under State Water Policy (SWP) and Plan adopted vide SRO 456 dated October 25, 2017 and consequent transactions were declared invalid and void ab initio and it was further directed that no transactions for alienation of such lands shall ever be admitted for registration, Justice Sindhu Sharma of J&K High Court after hearing Adv Sakal Bhushan with Rahul Sharma granted four weeks time to file objections. Court further ordered that in case the objections are not filed, the matter will be considered on merits of case.
During the course of hearing, Adv Sakal Bhushan submitted that communication/order is based upon an opinion of Senior Additional Advocate General dated July 28,, 2020 as stated therein itself. The aforesaid opinion is in turn based on wrong understanding of provisions of J&K Big Landed Estates Abolition Act, Svt. 2007 (1950 AD), hereinafter referred to as ‘BLEA’. What has been ignored is the fact that Section 3 of BLEA itself had stated that aforesaid Act will not apply to ‘any land which is occupied as site of a town or village and is not assessed to land revenue’. Therefore, reliance on any provision of the BLEA, in legal opinion and communication/ order based thereon, is utterly misconceived and deserves to be withdrawn.
He further submitted that ‘as a matter of fact, many colonies of Jammu Development Authority, J&K Housing Board and private colonizers have been built on the lands recorded as Khads like Roop Nagar, Bantalab, Birpur, Channi Himmat, Sainik Colony, Greater Kailash etc. The communication/order dated October 22, 2020 issued by the Financial Commissioner (Revenue) has cast cloud on status of all these lands which caused a panic amongst the people of J&K as it has the effect of disturbing economy of the people who cannot alienate their lands now and banks which cannot effectively enforce securities like mortgages created in their favour, besides adversely affecting the petitioner herein by nullifying the permission for alienation of his land granted vide its letter dated June 7, 2018 by the office of Deputy Commissioner Jammu.