Shimla :The Ner Chowk Medical College Hospital (now Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College and Hospital) is established at Ner Chowk in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh for Rs 765 crore with the support of the central government. In 2009, the Himachal government gave 150 bighas of land to ESI on a lease of Rs 1 for setting up this medical college and hospital.
This project came into existence during the UPA government at the centre and under the then BJP government in the State led by Prem Kumar Dhumal. Now after a decade, this medical college has drawn attention with a man claiming a huge compensation of Rs 1000 crore i.e. 10 billion from the institute for encroaching on his land.
Mir Bakhsh had claimed that the land on which the medical college came up belonged to his ancestors. Bakhsh says that he is the heir to property including more than 90 bighas of land at the place where the Ner Chowk Medical College Hospital (now Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College and Hospital, Ner Chowk) is built. The High Court itself had given an order in his favour, directing the state government to give the same extent of land to Mir Bakhsh at some other place.
Now Mir Bakhsh has filed another writ petition in the High Court demanding compensation of about ten billion rupees i.e. one thousand crore rupees.
On March 6, 2014, UPA government's Union Minister of Labour and Employment Oscar Fernandez inaugurated the medical college hospital being built under ESIC i.e. Employees State Insurance Corporation in Nerchowk of Mandi district. At that time Virbhadra Singh was the CM of Himachal. During the inauguration, the Union Minister praised former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal for the fact that in 2009 the state government had given 150 bighas of land for the college building on a lease of one rupee.
This college was initially known as ESI Medical College Ner Chowk. In 2017-'18, ESI handed over this medical college and hospital to the Himachal government with the condition that the government should run MBBS classes here. With the support of the centre and the state, a huge campus was built at Rs 765 crore.
Now the litigation started on the ownership of this land. After independence in 1947, the concerned land came under the ownership of the Government of India. Mir Bakshsh's forefather Sultan Mohammad fought a legal battle in this matter. According to the Jamabandi papers of the year 1952-53, this land belonged to Sultan Mohammad's ancestors. This land is located in Bhangrotu and Ner Chowk area. This separate land was more than 90 bighas and it was declared evacuee property under the law of 1950 and given to the ownership of the central government.
However, the documents showed that Sultan Mohammad never went out of India and he died here in 1983. At that time, Sultan Mohammad appealed to the then Ministry of Rehabilitation on 15 February 1957 to give his land back but they were rejected. Then in 2,000, Mir Bakhsh also fought a legal battle to get the land back. The case continued in the courts. Then on 9 January 2009, the High Court ordered the state government to give land to Sultan Mohammad's heir Mir Bakhsh at a different location in the Mandi district itself.
According to Mandi district ADC Rohit Rathore, the case of giving 91 bighas of land in Padhar subdivision has been sent for government approval. But in the meantime, Mir Bakhsh has filed an Izrai petition in the High Court for compensation of Rs 1000 crore. Izrai petition is a legal process related to the recovery of compensation. Mir Bakhsh says that his ancestors' land is on both sides of the main road in Nerchowk and its current rate is Rs 15 lakh per biswa. The current value of the total land is close to Rs 10 billion. Now a new challenge has arisen in front of the state government. Now all eyes are on the date of hearing of the case in the High Court.
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