SC refuses to stay ruling on removing encroachments in J&K
“Don’t demolish houses”
Srinagar: Hearing an urgent application seeking a stay on a circular issued by the Jammu and Kashmir government that directed the removal of all encroachments on land owned by UT, including Roshni land and Kachharie land, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to pass any order.
As per Bar and Bench, Justice Shah said they are not passing any order as it could benefit land grabbers also.
“We are not passing any order. You instruct them orally to not demolish any houses. But we will not grant a general stay at all so that others do not get benefit,” said Justice Shah.
Meanwhile, the UT administration has launched an operation to retrieve the encroached upon lands in length and breadth of Jammu and Kashmir. As per official communications, thousands of kanals of encroached upon have been retrieved.
The administration has asked the concerned authorities to retrieve all the land by the end of this month.
Earlier, Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha made it clear that nobody except the “influential people who have misused their positions and violated laws by occupying government land” will be targeted during the ongoing drive against the “encroachers”.
He said the common masses and poor people will not be touched.
“Common man and poor people won’t be touched by the administration; the government is, in fact, concerned about safeguarding the interests of poor people,” he said.
Sinha said there were directions from the courts to retrieve state land from the encroachers.
On January 09, the J&K government directed all deputy commissioners to ensure 100 percent removal of encroachments from State land by January 31, 2023.
