Director Estates , Jammu & Kashmir has issued show-cause notices of eviction to 42 occupants including former CM and two DyCMs. The move comes over acting upon the directions of the Division Bench of High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
Those served notices include former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Deputy Chief Ministers Muzaffar Hussain Beigh and Kavinder Gupta, former Ministers Sajad Gani Lone, Moulvi Imran Raza Ansari, Sat Sharma, GM Saroori, Sunil Sharma, Abdul Gani Vakil, Abdul Majid Paddar, Hakeem Mohd Yaseen, Former MLAs/MLCs Ravinder Raina State President BJP, RS Pathania, Pardeep Sharma, family of Lt Rajesh Gupta, Vibodh Gupta, Daleep Singh Parihar, Ravinder Sharma, Neelam Langeh, Shoib Nabi Lone, Haji Abdul Rashid, MS Pandit Puri, Raja Manzoor, Nizamuddin Bhat ex-VC J&K Muslim Specified Waqf and Waqf Properties, Mir Mohd Fayaz (ex-MP), Zaffar Iqbal Manhas, Abdul Rahim Rather, Bashir Ahmed Dar, Mohd Amin Bhat, Sofi Yousaf, M.Y Tarigami, Yasir Reshi, Surinder Ambardar, Mohammad Abbas Wani, Political persons namely Shafiq Mir Chairman Panchayat Conference, Shilpi Verma, Tariq Hussain Keen, Sheikh Ishfaq Jabbar, Zahid Hussain Jaan, SS Channi, Sonaaullah Lone, Reyaz Ahmed Mir requiring all these politicians to appear before the Director Estates Jammu/Kashmir in person or through virtual mode for giving the written response along with the documentary evidence if any, in support of continuation of accommodations of allotment at Jammu/Srinagar or otherwise within 10 days from the date of receipt of these notices.
Pertinently the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh vide its order dated April 3, 2024 had directed both the Director Estates Jammu, and Kashmir to deal with each and every person (43 in number) and to pass specific individual orders either for cancellation of accommodation and eviction there from, or allotment thereof by giving specific reasons for doing so.
The Division Bench had clarified that if the accommodation of any individual mentioned in the report is continued, specific reasons supported by necessary materials, must be provided before this Court so that this court will examine as to whether the authorities have taken an appropriate and fair decisions as regards the government accommodation being presently provided to these 43 persons.
In this regard, the senior Additional Advocate General SS Nanda filed an application seeking modification of Division Bench order April 3, 2024 on the ground that the Estates Department without losing any time proceeded in the matter and issued notices to the occupants under reference in the PIL.
It is further submitted that in view of the enforcement of Model Code of Conduct and the timeline prescribed in the order passed by this court, there may be legal impediment in calling such occupants and passing appropriate orders on merit, in furtherance of the directions passed by the High Court and the Estates Dept has sought the permission to defer these proceedings till 4th of June 2024 and thereafter, the process will be taken to its logical conclusion to meet the directions issued by the Court.
It is worthwhile to mention herein that the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice MA Chowdhary had also directed both Director Estates Jammu/Kashmir that they will also inform the court, how much rentals these 43 persons had been paying with supporting documents/receipts since the time they ceased to hold the offices on the basis of which they were allotted these officials accomodations and why they have not charged rental at commercial rates since they are not holding any office as of now. (KNS)
