Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 23: Division Bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Sindhu Sharma has sought status of investigation into illegal constructions at Patnitop from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by owner of Krystal Hotel and Restaurant Harcharan Singh seeking demolition of the illegal/unauthorized buildings raised in green buffer areas of Patnitop, the DB, on December 31, 2019, had directed CBI to conduct in-depth enquiry within two months.
When the PIL came up for hearing today, Division Bench directed Monika Kohli, counsel for the CBI, to apprise the court about the status of investigation in pursuance of the FIR. “It is expected that the J&K Tourism Department would initiate panel action against all hoteliers who are running the hotels without registration and those whose registration have expired and to report to the court”, the DB added.
Additional Advocate General FA Natnoo appearing for the Patnitop Development Authority informed that appropriate actions have been taken against the violators. Accordingly, DB directed AAG to inform the action taken for the filing of appeals against the orders of the Special Tribunal compounding major violations.
Pursuance to the order dated 31.12.2019 passed by the court, an action taken report was submitted by the CBI in sealed cover. The DB after perusal of the report observed, “apart from many irregularities pointed out therein, this court notice that 37 hotels were constructed unauthorizedly without the permission of the Patnitop Development Authority in violation of the master plan”.
“Out of the 58 hotels registered with the J&K Tourism Department under the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Registration of Tourist Trade Act 1978, 21 hotels either have not been registered or their registration have expired; and, in certain cases, the Special Tribunal appears to have compounded major violations which were impermissible but even then the Patnitop Development Authority had chosen not to file appeal against the same”, the DB further observed.
It has also been stated that FIR dated 01.08.2020 has been registered against the wrongful gainers/owners/proprietors of the hoteliers and the officers of the Patnitop Development Authority.
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