Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 28: The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has dismissed a writ petition filed by residents of Block Harwan, who had challenged the jurisdiction of the Lakes Conservation and Management Authority (LCMA) over their villages.
The petitioners, residents of Fakirgujri, Gandtal, Syedpora, Theed and Dara, argued that their villages fell under the Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, and that only Panchayat institutions or the Block Development Officer were competent to issue building permissions. They sought quashing of LCMA notices dated March 15, 17 and 19, 2025, issued under the Control of Building Operations Act, 1988.
The Government, however, contended that the areas had been brought under LCMA’s jurisdiction through SRO 57 of 1998. It further pointed to the Government Order of April 1, 2022, which categorically excluded all areas under tourism or other statutory authorities like LCMA from the ambit of Panchayati Raj permissions.
Justice Rajnesh Oswal, while delivering the judgment, observed that the villages of the petitioners do indeed fall within LCMA’s jurisdiction. The court further noted that the notices issued under the Building Operations Act were not addressed to the petitioners themselves, and only the directly affected individuals had the right to challenge them. The petitioners, the court added, had also failed to produce any valid construction permissions in their own favour.
Declaring the plea as misconceived and legally untenable, the High Court dismissed the petition and upheld LCMA as the sole competent authority to regulate construction in Harwan block.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
