Roshni Act

Jammu and Kashmir State Land (Vesting of Ownership to Occupants) Act, 2001 commonly known as Roshni Act was promulgated during Chief Minister Farooq Adbullah's government in 2001. The law granted ownership of Jammu and Kashmir state land to illegal encroachers with the aim of raising money for power projects upon payment of a sum to be determined by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir.[1] The cut-off year was set as 1990 by the Government of Farooq Abdullah, which in 2005 was relaxed to 2004 by the then PDP-Congress Government and further relaxed to 2007 by the Government of Ghulam Nabi Azad.[1] The act got the unofficial name of "Roshni Act" from the J&K Government's said plan of using the funds raised from this to fund power projects in the state.[1]

Jammu and Kashmir State Land (Vesting of Ownership to Occupants) Act, 2001
Jammu and Kashmir Legislature
Citation
Territorial extentJammu and Kashmir
Assented to9 November 2001
Commenced13 November 2001
Amended by
Summary
in 2005
Status: Repealed

Misuse of the act and land-grab

The act was misused to the effect that powerful land–grabbers who had acquired government land illegally were made the legal occupants of that government land.[2] The beneficieries were mostly powerful politicians, bureaucrats and influential businessmen.[3] The case has been alleged to have caused a loss of Rs 25,000 crores (approximately USD3.3 billion) to the state treasury and has been called the biggest land scam in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.[1]

Report of irregularities and repeal of the act

In 2014 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had raised irregularities and in 2015 the State Vigilance Organisation had charged over 20 government officials for misuse of the act; no one was prosecuted.[4] From 2015 onwards, efforts were made to get back some of the illegally acquired land.[2]

In 2018 the act was repealed during the tenure of the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satya Pal Malik who ordered the case investigation to be taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).[5][6]

On 9 October 2020, following demands from IkkJutt Jammu, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court deemed the law and all allotments made since the beginning as "null and void" and "unconstitutional".[6] The court also said that the rules framed in 2007 by the Government of Ghulam Nabi Azad did not appear to have any legislative sanction.[4][7][8] The state government has said that it will recover land distributed under the scheme in six months. All the identities of those who took advantage of the scheme will be made public.[5]

On 22 October 2020, the administration of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory ordered the submission of comprehensive details of ministers, legislators, bureaucrats, police officers, government employees, businessmen, other influential persons and their relatives who have benefitted from the Act.[9]

On 24 November 2020, India's Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in a press conference said that former J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah was among the beneficiaries in Roshni Act. The others in the list were the former Finance Minister of J&K Haseeb Drabu, Congress leader Majid Wani, former Home Minister and NC leader Sajjad Kitchloo and former JK Bank Chairman MY Khan.[10][11]

See also

References
  1. M, Rahul (14 October 2020). "Explainer: What's the controversial Roshni Act all about and why has J&K HC ordered a CBI probe into it?". Yahoo News.
  2. Chauhan, Abha (2017-08-28). "7: Gendering the Landownership Question in Jammu and Kashmir". In Chowdhry, Prem (ed.). Understanding Women's Land Rights: Gender Discrimination in Ownership. SAGE Publishing India. ISBN 978-93-86446-33-6.
  3. "Guv orders inquiry into Roshni Act irregularities". Tribune India. 14 September 2019.
  4. Sharma, Arun (2018-12-03). "Explained: J&K Roshni Act: what it aimed to do, what happened until it was repealed". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  5. "J&K administration scraps Roshni Act, says government will retrieve land in six months". Scroll.in. 1 November 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  6. Sharma, Arun (14 October 2020). "'Loot to own': J&K High Court hands Rs 25,000 crore land scam probe to CBI". Indian Express.
  7. Ashiq, Peerzada (2020-10-31). "J&K government declares Roshni Act 'null and void'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  8. "J&K govt declares actions under Roshni Act 'null and void'; what you need to know". Firstpost. 2020-11-02. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  9. "J&K admin working on details of beneficiaries of alleged Roshni Act scam". Deccan Herald. 22 October 2020.
  10. Oka, Akhil (24 November 2020). "Union Law Minister Alleges Involvement Of Farooq Abdullah In J&K Land Scam, Demands Probe". Republic.
  11. Bhatt, Sunil (24 November 2020). "Farooq Abdullah's name surfaces in Roshni land scam, says it's only a ploy to disturb him". India Today.
  12. Indian Defence Review Volume 18. Lancer International. 2003. p. 13. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  13. "What is J&K's Roshni Act and how it enabled land 'loot' in the name of light". ThePrint. 2020-11-02. Retrieved 2020-11-03.

Further reading
  • Suhail, Peer Ghulam Nabi (2018). Pieces of Earth: The Politics of Land-Grabbing in Kashmir. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199091652.


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