Thursday, June 23, 2016

GRABBING OF 650 KANALS OF KAHCHARIE LAND

Greater Kashmir‎‎‎‎: Srinagar: Thursday, June 23, 2016.
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has directed the government to take action for retrieving 650 kanals of Kahcharie land allegedly encroached upon by land mafia at Zakura, Gulab Bagh and Bhagat Shura in suburbs of Srinagar.
One Peer Noor-ul-Haq had approached the court with a plea that the land mafia has usurped 650 kanals of Kahcharai land at Zakura, Ghulab Bagh Bhgat Shura, claiming to be owners of the land and have raised constructions on it.
Disposing of the petition, a bench of Justice Ramallingam Sudhakar directed Tehsildar Hazratbal to take action in the matter as competent authority as expeditiously as possible.
In support of his contention, the petitioner produced a reply copy he had received through Right to Information Act as proof that the land in question is a Kahcharie land.
While the RTI reply revealed that 459 Kanals as per the ‘Jamobandi’ 1954-60 and 2010-11, situated at Zakura and Gulab Bagh has been grabbed, it divulged another piece of Kacharie land comprising 194 Kanals and 7 Marlas   has been also usurped at Estate Bhagat Shura.
The petitioner pleaded that he approached the Revenue department for taking necessary action against the land mafias in order to evict them from the land.
The authorities, he pleaded, however, failed to discharge their statutory duty for the reasons best known to them. He submitted that the inaction by the authorities prompted him to file a petition before the court to protect the precious state land.
For retrieving the land, the petitioner sought directions to the Revenue authorities to discharge their duty by evicting the land mafias from the illegal encroachment over the kahcharie land.
“In view of the relief sought for by the petitioner (Peer), Tehsildar Hazratbal Srinagar/ competent authority is directed to consider the nature of complaint filed by the petitioner and take action in the matter in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible,” the court said.
Pertinently, the High Court has earlier also ruled that  the structures on the Kahcharai land have to be removed in keeping with  the Apex Court judgment handed down in the petition titled Jagpal Singh and others versus State of Punjab.
“Illegalities committed in nature of usurpation of Common Lands of the village communities cannot be regularized and the common interest of the villagers cannot be made to suffer merely because the unauthorized occupation has subsisted for many years,” reads the apex court judgment.