Twist in Rajouri ‘Army’ land rent row: Its location may be beyond LoC, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court told

Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal disposed of the contempt plea on April 28.

“In the present contempt proceedings, this Court cannot undertake an exercise to determine the exact location of the land in question or adjudicate as to whether the same is under the occupation of the Army authorities or otherwise,” the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court said on April 28.

Background

• The petitioners, Mohinder Pal, Raj Kumar and Prithvi Singh had originally approached the high court through a writ petition in 2013 seeking the release of arrears of rental compensation for their lands allegedly used and occupied by the defence authorities.
• They had also sought interest at the rate of 18 per cent on delayed payments.
• A single judge of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, by an order dated October 24, 2013, directed the deputy commissioner, Rajouri, to assess the rent of the land in question and ensure that any payable compensation was disbursed to the rightful owners after proper verification.
• The Centre challenged that order in an appeal, but a coordinate bench upheld the directions on March 17, 2015, and extended the time for deposit of arrears from 2003 till March 2015 by three months.
• The court had further directed that rent should continue to be deposited so long as the Army used the land.

Contempt plea, Army’s stand

• The present contempt petition alleged wilful disobedience of the 2015 directions on the ground that compensation had still not been paid.
• During the proceedings, the defence authorities filed multiple compliance reports stating that the matter involved over 340 kanals and eight marlas of land spread across several khasra numbers in Khamba.
• According to the Army, despite efforts spanning nearly two decades, the actual location of the land on the ground could not be verified jointly by Army officials and representatives of the Assistant Defence Estate Officer (ADEO), Rajouri.
• The respondents also referred to an earlier vigilance inquiry that culminated in an FIR in 2005.
• The inquiry allegedly found that certain khasra numbers were either under Pakistan’s occupation or formed part of “no man’s land” near the LoC.

Revenue manipulation allegations

The deputy commissioner, Rajouri, in an affidavit before the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, stated that a commission constituted for spot inspection and demarcation had submitted a report on November 24, 2020.

According to that report, revenue entries prepared during the 1995-96 Jamabandi wrongly showed possession of the Indian Army in the disputed khasra numbers instead of recording them as “Maqbooza Pakistan”, which had been reflected in earlier jamabandis (land records) of 1969-70 and 1991-92.

The affidavit further stated that certain revenue officials were found to have been involved in tampering with the records, and they were terminated from service by the Jammu and Kashmir government.

Local commissioner’s findings

In November 2024, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court appointed the principal district and sessions judge, Rajouri, as local commissioner to examine whether the properties claimed by the petitioners were unusable because of mining or their location across the LoC.

The commissioner’s report, submitted on January 9, 2025, found that except for land covered under survey numbers 1761, 1777 and 1778, the remaining parcels were located beyond the LoC and therefore not under the control or occupation of the Indian Army.

Court declines factual adjudication in contempt jurisdiction

• While disposing of the contempt petition, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court said the issue regarding altered revenue entries and the exact status of the land fell within the domain of the deputy commissioner and could not be conclusively examined in contempt proceedings.
• The court said that the earlier directions required the deputy commissioner to assess rent and release compensation only after proper verification of the rightful owners.
• The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court then directed the deputy commissioner, Rajouri, to comply with the earlier judgment “in its letter and spirit” and pass appropriate orders regarding the disbursement of compensation within three months.