Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 9: Division Bench of State High Court comprising Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar and Justice Sanjeev Kumar has admitted a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Ankur Sharma challenging the Jammu and Kashmir State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act and issued notice to the State.
After hearing both the sides, Division Bench directed the State to submit the list of beneficiaries of the Act before this court and also make a proper publication in newspaper that PIL challenging Roshni Act is pending before the High Court for consideration and persons, who are interested or likely to be affected, are entitled to cause their appearance in the proceedings”.
In the PIL, it has been submitted that the Act has been dubbed as illegal on the ground that it violates the doctrine of equality and creates a special class of society for conferring undue benefits at the will and whims of the political entities.
The legislation was conceived to reward the violators of law, who instead of being booked for grabbing the State land, were conferred with the ownership rights and the law being a unique piece of legislation on the statue book cannot be allowed to sustain in an organized society governed by rule of law, the PIL said, adding “nowhere in the country such a legislation was ever enacted to give premium to those who indulged in land grabbing as such legislation being against public policy and constitutional mandate is required to be declared unconstitutional and the land so regularized in favour of illegal occupants is required to be retrieved by setting aside all orders of regularizations”.
Follow our WhatsApp channel