Govt directs 100% removal of encroachments from State, Roshni, Kahcharai land by Jan 31
Div Coms, DCs to submit daily progress reports
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Jan 11: In a significant development, the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has issued directions to all the Deputy Commissioners to ensure 100% removal of encroachments from State land including Roshni and Kahcharai by the end of current month and submit compliance report.
Pointing towards instructions issued from time to time, the Commissioner Secretary to the Government, Department of Revenue Vijay Kumar Bidhuri has directed all the Deputy Commissioners to ensure that all encroachments on State land including Roshni and Kahcharai land are removed to the extent of 100% by January 31, 2023.
For effective monitoring of the anti-encroachment drive, the Commissioner Secretary Revenue has further directed the Deputy Commissioners to draw up a daily anti-encroachment drive plan and also nominate Additional Deputy Commissioners as District Nodal Officers for coordination and affective implementation of the drive.
“Deputy Commissioners should constitute teams of Revenue officers for removal of the encroachments and personally monitor the drive and both the Divisional Commissioners should also monitor the drive on regular basis”, said a circular issued in this regard.
The Government has also sought daily progress report through the respective Divisional Commissioners for which concerned Assistant Commissioner (Central) will be the Nodal Officer. Moreover, the Deputy Commissioners will submit the daily reports by 4 pm and Divisional Commissioners will furnish the compiled reports through Financial Commissioner Revenue by 5 pm to the Administrative Department Revenue in the devised format.
As far as State land including Roshni and Kahcharai is concerned, the Deputy Commissioners are required to furnish details about total encroached land on the day, encroachment removed day wise and balance so that Government gets clear picture about the progress made on each and every day till January 31, 2023, which is the last date for completion of exercise.
“Though there is nothing specific in the instructions of the Government yet the Deputy Commissioners have been told indirectly to target the big-wigs as far as encroachments on the State land including Roshni and Kahcharai are concerned as they were the major beneficiaries of the orders passed by the successive Governments from time to time”, sources told EXCELSIOR.
Few days back, EXCELSIOR had exclusively reported that Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, while chairing a high-level meeting, passed on directions for removal of encroachments from the State land in a time bound manner.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Division Bench of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir headed by the then Chief Justice Gita Mittal, while dealing with the PIL No.19/2011 and other connected matters, had taken away the benefits of regularization conferred upon the beneficiaries under the Roshni Act. Besides, the DB had entrusted several FIRs and whole scam to the premier investigating agency of the country—Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) with the direction for submission of periodic progress reports so that the investigation could be monitored by the High Court.
Against the judgment of the Division Bench dated October 9, 2020, several review petitions came to be filed and even Special Leave Petitions (SLPs) were filed in the Supreme Court of India. However, when it was pointed out to the Apex Court that the erstwhile State of J&K has also filed review petition in the Jammu Wing of the High Court, the Apex Court requested the J&K High Court to first decide the review petitions.
The Government of Union Territory of J&K has already conveyed to the High Court that Government has accepted the DB judgment dated October 9, 2020 in totality except that it wants slight modifications to formulate a policy for poor people who are having small dwelling houses and also for landless agriculturist category.
