Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): The Jammu and Kashmir High Court, in a monumental judgement, on Friday termed the controversial Roshni Act as "unconstitutional" and directed Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the investigation into the Rs 25,000 crore land allotment scheme.
A division bench of Jammu and Kashmir High Court comprising of Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Rajesh Bindal gave a nod to the petition that sought transfer of the Rs 25,000 crore land allotment scam under the Roshni Act from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to the CBI.
The act, enacted by the State legislature in November 2001 and implemented in March 2002, envisaged raising funds for hydropower generation in the State by transferring state land into private ownership to collect Rs 25,000 crore.
According to the Comptroller and Auditor General, out of the Rs 25,000 crore, only Rs 76 crore had been released for the transfer of land into private ownership.
Politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats had come under severe criticism for transferring State land to private ownership.
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In its judgement, the high court declared the law unconstitutional, holding all allotments made under the Act void ab initio.
It ordered that the investigation of the land scam be transferred to the CBI which will file the status report within two months.
The court also directed J&K Chief Secretary to ensure uninterrupted investigation which will also be directed against those officers in whose tenures the encroachments had happened.
The court said all Deputy Commissioners and Divisional Commissioners will be held for contempt of court if they do not cooperate with the investigation.
Earlier the ACB Jammu (Vigilance) was investigating the matter and had registered 17 FIRs so far.
Given how ACB J&K was handling the case, the court deemed it appropriate to divest it of the investigation simultaneously handing it over to CBI, the bench said.
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The constitutional validity of the Roshni Act had earlier been challenged in PIL No. 41/2014 titled Ankur Sharma Vs. State of J&K and Ors. It consequently led to the abrogation and repeal of the Roshni Act in 2018.
