‘Submits report to government’
Umer Maqbool
Srinagar, Mar 07 : Jammu & Kashmir Law Commission has recommended a blanket ban on alienation (sale) of migrant property in Kashmir.
In its report, the panel headed by former High Court judge, M.K. Hanjura has recommended that “a blanket ban may be imposed on the alienation of property belonging to such class of people till further orders.”
According to wire service—
the report of the panel has been submitted to Jammu & Kashmir administration. In its observations, the panel has stated that Jammu and Kashmir Migrant Immoveable Property (Preservation, Protection and Restraint on Distress Sales) Act, 1997 has not been implemented in letter and spirit in the past two decades.
“No doubt the Act imposes restrictions on alienation of immoveable property and it provides that district magistrates shall take over the possession of immoveable properties belonging to migrants falling within the limits of their territorial jurisdiction and it also lays down that the unauthorized occupants of any migrant property shall surrender the possession of the migrant property to the competent authority , but the fact of the matter is that this Act has been followed in breach and the obligations cast on the authorities detailed therein do not appear to have been discharged sacredly for the last more than two decades by now,” reads the report.
The report claims that “the district magistrates have failed to take over the possession of the migrant property in their hold as mandated under the Act and it has not been notified anywhere”.
“Had the intention of this legislation been to resettle Kashmiri Pandits within the precincts of the valley of Kashmir at any moment of time in that event a blanket ban would have been imposed on the alienation of the migrant property by any mode of transfer which has not been done under the Act,” the report states.
The report underlines the need for a blanket ban on alienation of migrant properties in Kashmir.“In order to protect the left out property of this class of helpless citizens which is too small by now compared to what was it in the year of 1990 when and where after these properties were put to distress sales, a blanket ban on alienation of their property was and continues to be need of hour,” the report states.
The panel has recommended to the government to set-up an independent agency which will perform functions assigned to DCs under the law.
It has also recommended that word migrant should be replaced by “internally displaced persons” in the Act.
The recommendation has been made months after Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was revoked and the erstwhile state was partitioned into two Union Territories by the BJP-led Central government reported KNO.
