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Journalism of Courage
Veteran Congressman Dr Karan Singh has moved a Jammu court asking that the J&K government return the premises occupied by the Raj Bhawan. According to Singh, the Hari-Tara Trust, of which he is trustee, had leased the premises out in 1967 in pursuit of a ‘charitable’ objective, which the Governor’s residence has failed to serve. ARUN SHARMA explains.
Q: What is the property under litigation?
The Jammu Raj Bhawan complex, one of the two office-cum-residences of the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir (the other is in the state’s summer capital Srinagar), is spread over 126 kanals, and includes Ranbir Mahal, Karan Niwas, outhouses, servant quarters, orchards and grounds. The complex, one of the palaces of the erstwhile Dogra Maharaja, stands on a hill overlooking the river Tawi, the Bahu Fort, Mahamaya temple and Mahamaya forests.
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Q: How is Dr Karan Singh linked to the property? How did the government come to occupy the premises?
Singh, 84-year-old Congress member of Rajya Sabha, is the son of Maharaja Hari Singh, the last Dogra king of Jammu & Kashmir. Karan Niwas was his residence when the Maharaja appointed him Regent on June 20, 1949. On November 15, 1952, he became Sadr-i-Riyasat and, on March 28, 1965, Governor. He resigned as Governor on March 13, 1967, and subsequently moved to Delhi to join Indira Gandhi’s cabinet. On May 1, 1967, his wife, Yasho Rajya Lakshmi, executed a deed leasing the premises out to the state government for a monthly rent of Rs 4,000.
Q: What is the Hari-Tara Charitable Trust?
Singh and his wife set up the trust in the name of his parents, Maharaja Hari Singh and Maharani Tara Devi, for charitable purposes like setting up educational institutions and training centres, helping the poor with stipends, books, clothes etc., maintaining libraries, publishing books and magazines, helping poor widows and setting up the weddings of poor girls, setting up hospitals, promoting art and culture, etc. They gave their properties, including the Raj Bhawan complex, to the Trust. Yasho Rajya Lakshmi died in May 2009, and Singh is now the only trustee.
Q: What is the controversy over the property?
A suit filed by Hari-Tara Charitable Trust through its trustee (Singh) before Principal Sessions Judge, Jammu, R S Jain, says that continuous use and occupation of the premises as an accommodation for the Governor on a meagre monthly rent was hampering the public charitable causes for which the property was dedicated to the Trust. The suit points out that for the paltry rent of Rs 4,000 it pays, the government earns lakhs from just the mango orchards on the premises.
Q: What has the trust sought from the court?
Singh has sought to reclaim the Raj Bhawan from the state government. The Trust had served notice to the state terminating the tenancy from the midnight of July 31, 2014, but the latter has failed to vacate the premises. The suit argues that “any further occupation by the defendants shall be construed to be unauthorized use and occupation of suit-property for which Trust shall be entitled to claim Rs 50,000 per day as compensation along with interest at the rate of 24 per cent per annum”. Singh has also sought compensation of Rs 1,63,68,000 from the state government for retaining and using the property even after the termination of its lease last year.
Q: What happens now?
The court has issued notice to the state. The case has been fixed for hearing on May 12.
