Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 14: The High Court has directed the District Magistrate to handover the possession of the migrant land to its actual owner and costs of paddy after recovering from the encroachers within six weeks in line with the provisions of Migrant Act.
Justice M A Chowdhary passed these directions to the plea of migrant-Mohan Lal Bakshi who contended that his land situated at Tarhama Pattan area of District Baramulla is in illegal possession of two persons Nazir Ahmad Khan and Ghulam Hassan Khan of Tarahama, Pattan since from 1995 and the authorities have failed to act against them despite repeated requested by the aggrieved-migrant.
It has been further asserted that the land owned by the-migrant continues to be migrant property and is under the forcible occupation of the encroachers and that all his efforts to remove the encroachment did not bear any fruit.
Court during the proceedings of the case observed that the official Respondents, particularly the District Magistrate, Baramulla, as guardian under the Migrant Act, are under a legal obligation to preserve and protect the migrant property and to save it from any encroachment or misuse by any other person.
Court apart has also been informed that in order to perpetuate the possession over the land in question the encroachers approached the Munsiff court Magam by way of a civil suit seeking ownership rights on the land in question without making party the actual owner therein and the court has passed the order of status quo on the land due to which eviction process could not take place.
Justice Chowdhary clarified that the jurisdiction of the Civil Court is not available to the Civil Courts to decide with regard to claims over the migrant immoveable property and recorded that the Munsiff, Magam has overlooked the aspect of jurisdiction.
He has averred that, in the year 2006, the Tehsildar (Property), Relief Organization, Jammu referred his application to District Magistrate, Baramulla requesting him to take appropriate steps for eviction of the encroachments from the land of the petitioner and recovery of the usufructs from the date of encroachment to be paid to the petitioner and, as a follow up thereto, the Tehsildar Pattan, vide notice dated 15th of October, 2009, directed the encroachers to remove the encroachment and discontinue the illegal occupation of the migrant land and hand it over to the attorney holder of the migrant.
The aggrieved migrant through his counsel Mujeeb Andrabi has informed the court that on November, 24, 2009, he was himself present on spot to take possession of the land and of the crops, but on account of the apathy shown by the Station House Officer (SHO), Police Station, Kunzer, despite communication by Tehsildar, Pattan and due to his personal interest, the crops were harvested and taken away by the encroachers, leaving the petitioner high and dry.
“For the foregoing reasons and observations made the official Respondents, more particularly District Magistrate, Baramulla, is directed to deal with the property of the Petitioner in accordance with the mandate of the Act of 1997 and handover the possession of the same to the Petitioner at the earliest, preferably within a period of six week”, Court directed.
Court with regard to the paddy of the land since from its illegal encroachment directed the DM concerned to recover the cost of usufructs of the land in question from encroachers and pay the same to the petitioner in terms of the Act of 1997.
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