Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 19: In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the Jammu and Kashmir State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, which is popularly known as Roshni Act, Division Bench of State High Court comprising First Puisne Judge Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sanjay Kumar Gupta today granted two weeks time to the State for complying with the directions issued on March 7, 2018.
On March 7, 2018, Division Bench had directed the State to submit the list of beneficiaries and also make a proper publication in newspaper that WPPIL No.41/2014, challenge to the Roshni Act, is pending before the High Court for consideration and also persons, who are interested or likely to be affected, are entitled to cause their appearance in the proceedings.
In the PIL, the Act has been dubbed as illegal on the ground that it violates the doctrine of equality and creates a special class of society for conferring undue benefits at the will and whims of the political entities.
“The legislation was conceived to reward the violators of law, who instead of being booked for grabbing the State land, were conferred with the ownership rights and the law being a unique piece of legislation on the statue book cannot be allowed to sustain in an organized society governed by rule of law”, said Advocate Ankur Sharma, counsel for the PIL.
“Nowhere in the country such a legislation was ever enacted to give premium to those who indulged in land grabbing as such legislation being against public policy and constitutional mandate is required to be declared unconstitutional and the land so regularized in favour of illegal occupants is required to be retrieved by setting aside all orders of regularizations”, the PIL said.
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