PIL seeking demarcation of 66436 kanals of JDA land
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 14: Division Bench of the State High Court comprising Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Alok Aradhe today directed Divisional Commissioner Jammu and Vice-Chairman Jammu Development Authority to disclose particulars of the JDA land demarcated in Jammu and Samba districts so far along with photography/ videography evidences.
After considering the submissions of Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed with Advocates Rahul Raina and Supriya Chouhan appearing for the petitioner in a much publicized PIL highlighting grabbing of more than 20 lakh kanal of State land by powerful mafia comprising politicians, police officers, bureaucrats and revenue officials, the Division Bench directed Divisional Commissioner Jammu and VC JDA that they shall simultaneously display particulars of all such land on their websites and ensure that strict action is taken against any effort of the encroachment or illegal construction on the land which belong to the JDA.
The Division Bench further directed the Divisional Commissioner Jammu and VC JDA to file a status report and a compliance report of the directions within two weeks from today. “These officers shall also ensure that action in terms of the orders already passed to recover the encroached land continues and status reports regarding the same are regularly filed before this court”, the DB added.
The Division Bench further observed, “we would also like to be informed with regard to the manner in which the respondents are protecting the public land from further encroachment and trespassing”, adding “given the volume of the land which is involved, it may not be always feasible or possible to fence or put boundary walls. In this regard the Divisional Commissioner Jammu and VC JDA may explore the possibility of putting pillars and also display boards notifying the public at large that the land is owned by the public authorities”.
Division Bench further directed the JDA to place before the court the road map with regard to the utilization of public land in the status reports to be filed.
The Division Bench also allowed time to Senior Advocate Sunil Sethi with Advocate Parimoksh Seth to file reply on behalf of the private respondents within two weeks from today and also granted further two weeks time to Advocate S S Ahmed to file rejoinder within one week thereafter.
The Division Bench directed the Registry to list the PIL on December 14, 2018 along with the connected matters.
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