Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 7: In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) highlighting encroachment of State land on a very large scale, Division Bench of State High Court comprising Chief Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed and Justice Tashi Rabstan today issued directions for personal appearance of Director Land Management of Jammu Development Authority and Additional Deputy Commissioners of Jammu and Samba to explain the reasons for delay in demarcation of JDA land measuring 66,436 kanals and one marla.
When the PIL of wide public importance came up for hearing Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed drew the attention of the Division Bench towards the order dated November 12, 2014 wherein the issue of the encroachment of JDA land was highlighted. “Under various orders 86,941 kanals of land was transferred to JDA by the State Government but only 19,391 kanals and 11 marlas has been demarcated and the remaining area measuring 66,436 kanals and 1 marla has remained un-demarcated”, he added
He further submitted that a detailed order was passed by the then Division Bench whereby directions were issued for demarcation of the entire JDA land but the directions have not been complied with and there was collusion between Revenue and JDA authorities to shield the land Mafia.
After hearing Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed with Advocate Irfan Mohd. Khan appearing for the petitioner, Advocate R S Jamwal for the intervener, Senior AAGs S S Nanda, Seema Khajooria Shekhar, Deputy Advocate General Ehsan Mirza, Government Advocate Sudesh Magotra appearing for the State Government, Advocate Adarsh Sharma appearing for JDA and Senior Advocates M A Goni, Sunil Sethi with Advocates Mumtaz Chowdhary and Sumit Nayyar and Advocates A M Malik and Raghav Kumar appearing for the private respondents, the DB observed, “this PIL concerns land grabbing and encroachment of Government land on a very large scale”, even all these lands have allegedly been encroached and grabbed by various individuals. Even the demarcation has not been completed. These are all valuable lands falling within the jurisdiction of JDA”.
With these observations, the Division Bench directed the personal appearance of Director Land Management JDA and Additional Deputy Commissioners of Jammu and Samba in order to understand the magnitude of the problem and the solution which the two departments would propose. These officers were directed to remain present on April 11, 2017.
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