Lease was only for 2 kanals, 91 kanals encroached
*Uniform policy for renewal of lease cases not formulated
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, July 20: In a brazen defiance of judicial directives, the famed Nedous Hotel in Gulmarg continues to operate without a valid lease nearly seven years after the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir declared its occupation of prime public land unauthorized and ordered eviction. Moreover, no uniform policy for renewal of lease cases at this picturesque tourist destination has been formulated till date.
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The case, adjudicated by the Division Bench of the High Court comprising the then Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Alok Aradhe on September 6, 2018, exposed glaring irregularities in the hotel’s continued possession of nearly 98 kanals and 11 marlas of Government land despite the expiry of its lease in 1985.
The High Court had found that no rent had been paid since 1990 yet the property was being used for commercial gain. In its judgment, the High Court had dismissed the hotel’s plea for lease renewal, holding that the request was rejected by the Government in February 2015 and the petitioner was rightly declared an unauthorized occupant under the J&K Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1988.
The DB had noted that mere deposit of rent or submission of renewal applications does not create a legal right to continue occupation. It also highlighted that public property cannot be allotted or renewed without a transparent and competitive process and emphasized that renewal of lease is a privilege not a right.
Most strikingly, the judgment revealed that Nedous Hotel had encroached beyond the original lease of just 2 kanals and 13 marlas, occupying a vastly larger portion of Government land. Despite this and the High Court’s directions to the Government to recover all such public properties from unauthorized occupants, no action has been taken to evict the hotel or reclaim the land.
The lease for Nedous Hotel in Gulmarg was renewed by a Government order dated 12.07.1963 for a period of 20 years in favour of Col Harry Nedou alias Ghulam Qadir. The lease expired on 31.12.1985 and it was never renewed thereafter.
After expiry, the petitioner continued to occupy the Nedous Hotel without any legal right after 1985. Renewal applications were submitted in 1994 and 2009 but were never accepted.
A letter dated 04.02.2015 from CEO, Gulmarg Development Authority (GDA) informed the petitioner that lease renewal was rejected and eviction proceedings would follow. The notice of eviction was served under Section 4(1) of the J&K Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1988 on 31.03.2015. The petitioner’s reply dated 06.04.2015 was found unsatisfactory and the eviction order was passed on 25.04.2015, declaring the petitioner an unauthorized occupant and directing vacation within seven days.
However, the petitioner filed an appeal before the District Judge Baramulla but it was returned due to pending Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the High Court. Thereafter, writ petition was filed seeking quashing of eviction orders and placement of the renewal case before the committee formed under Government order dated 25.08.2009.
In response to the petition, the Government submitted that the lease was only for 2 kanals and 13 marlas and the petitioner encroached an additional 91 kanals. It was further submitted that the fencing of the land was demolished by authorities as per court order. Moreover, the petitioner was accused of concealing documents and misrepresenting extent of lease.
Finally, the High Court held that Nedous Hotel had no legal right to continue on the land after 1985, adding “rejection of renewal is valid and mere acceptance of rent (if any) does not imply renewal”.
Accordingly, the High Court dismissed the petition with the direction to the Government to ensure recovery of public property and enforce uniform action against all unauthorized occupants including Nedous Hotel.
When contacted, some officers in the administration, who are privy to the developments in the case, said, “only two or three hotels in Gulmarg are having valid lease in their favour at present. Rest all are operating without extension of lease”, adding “the Government is in the process of identifying the officers, who remained quite over the issue since the issuance of directions by the High Court in 2018, for necessary action against them”.
These officers, while wishing anonymity, confirmed that no uniform policy for renewal of lease cases has been formulated till date.
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