Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 17: Coming down firmly on prolonged delays, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has directed the Defence Estates authorities to deposit the already sanctioned compensation amount within two weeks, after the petitioners complained that the Union of India failed to honour its commitment made before the Court earlier this year.
The Division Bench comprising Justice Sindhu Sharma and Justice Shahzad Azeem passed the order while hearing a set of revived contempt petitions filed by Rakesh Khajuria and others.
The contempt proceedings had earlier been closed on September 26, 2025, after the Union of India assured the Court that Form-J had been issued and that the required compensation funds would be released within one month. However, the petitioners approached the Court again when the authorities failed to meet the deadline, prompting the Bench to revive the contempt petitions on December 2, 2025.
In a fresh status report filed on December 15, the Defence Estates authorities stated that the matter had been repeatedly taken up with higher officials via communications dated July 9, 17 and 18. The Directorate of Defence Estates (Northern Command) had also forwarded the compensation issue to the Directorate General, Defence Estates, New Delhi, which conveyed on August 4 that funds would be released “as and when required,” since the cases were already under court-mandated compliance.
The Bench noted that despite multiple communications-including 31st October 2025 letter from the Defence Estates Officer, Udhampur requesting immediate release of the sanctioned amount-the funds had still not been deposited with the Collector, thereby stalling payment to the petitioners.
Directing strict compliance, the High Court ordered the respondents to deposit the available sanctioned compensation amount with the Collector within two weeks, so that payment to the petitioners can be processed without further delay.
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