NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has directed the Jammu and Kashmir administration to initiate land acquisition proceedings and provide compensation, along with rental dues, for land that was taken over in 1953 for a police station in Kangan, Ganderbal, without any formal acquisition process.
Information was available with The Chenab Times that a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued the directives while adjudicating a plea filed by Abdul Rashid Wani, a descendant of the original landowners.
The court acknowledged the significant delay of nearly eight decades, stating that fresh acquisition proceedings could not be ordered from the present date. However, it mandated the land acquisition officer to commence the process retrospectively from 2021, the year Wani first approached the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.
Furthermore, the bench instructed the officer to calculate the rental compensation payable to Wani for the period the land has been in use since 1953. The final determination of both the acquisition compensation and the rental amounts will be made by the high court.
The legal dispute involves approximately 7 kanals and 18 marlas of land, identified by survey number 525 in Mouza Kangan within the Ganderbal district. According to Wani’s petition, his ancestors were the rightful owners of this land, which was occupied by authorities in 1953 for the construction of a police station without any formal acquisition or compensation being paid.
Wani had sought either the restoration of the land or, alternatively, its official acquisition along with payment of compensation or rent for its occupation since 1953.
The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court had previously dismissed his petition in June 2022, citing an unexplained delay of approximately 68 years. The high court had noted that Wani, who was around 42 years old when he filed the petition, had not provided adequate justification for the delayed legal action.
Wani’s submission indicated that his father was illiterate and thus unable to pursue the matter in court. He also claimed to have engaged with authorities over the preceding two decades, but was unable to produce supporting documentation, citing the destruction of government records in the 2014 floods.
The Union Territory administration had contested the plea, asserting that the police department had maintained peaceful possession of the property since 1953 and that tracing records from such a distant past would be exceedingly difficult.
The high court had concluded that allowing the claim after such a prolonged period of inactivity would essentially revive a cause of action that had become legally stale.
The Supreme Court, nevertheless, gave weight to Wani’s argument that the delay should not preclude him from receiving relief for what was alleged to be an illegal state action. Consequently, it ordered the authorities to proceed with the acquisition from the date of Wani’s 2021 petition and to account for the land’s use since 1953 through rental compensation.
The Chenab Times News Desk