Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 20: The State High Court today directed the Government to appoint Divisional Commissioners of Kashmir and Jammu for implementing the provision of land laws including Supreme Court and High Court directions to save the agriculture land in the State.
Court while hearing PIL on safeguard and protection of agriculture and State land from encroachments and its conversion put suggestion of appointing Divisional Commissioners as implementing authorities of land laws directed Government to pass necessary orders for it.
“The authorities will, besides monitoring the implementation of the relevant laws, shall also evolve mechanism for protection and preservation of the retrieved land”, directed the Division Bench of Justice MH Attar and Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey.
Court directed these authorities (Divisional Commissioners) to file their compliance report after every two months regarding protections of agriculture land and the land which has been retrieved from the encroachers before Registrar Judicial of Jammu High Court as well as Srinagar High Court.
It may be mentioned here that Supreme Court for saving the agriculture land and wet lands in a judgment ‘Jagpal Sing Vs State of Punjab” has directed to all the State Governments in the country that they should prepare schemes for eviction of illegal/unauthorized occupants of Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat/Poramboke/Shamlat land and these must be restored to the Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat for the common use of villagers of the village.
The Supreme Court order reads: “For this purpose the Chief Secretaries of all State Governments/Union Territories in India are directed to do the needful, taking the help of other senior officers of the Governments. The said scheme should provide for the speedy eviction of such illegal occupant, after giving him a show cause notice and a brief hearing. Long duration of such illegal occupation or huge expenditure in making constructions thereon or political connections must not be treated as a justification for condoning this illegal act or for regularizing the illegal possession”.
High Court today granted liberty to anybody to approach the Court in case the judgment is not being implemented and can also inform the court in case the compliance report filed by the both Divisional Commissioners is not correct. “On such a motion the court may then initiate contempt proceedings against the concerned authorities”, said Justice Attar and Justice Magrey while closing the PIL.
Court also granted liberty to any person for approaching the respective Divisional Commissioner about the violation of the laws and encroachments made in the State land, Shamilat land or Khahcharie land.
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