Mockery of justice as court asks IIOJK authorities to compensate for land seized in 1953
New Delhi, : In an example of justice delayed for over seven decades, India’s Supreme Court has directed authorities in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir to pay compensation and rentals to a descendant of farmers whose land was forcibly taken in 1953 for a police station in Kangan, Ganderbal.
According to Kashmir Media Service, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana heard the plea of Abdul Rashid Wani, challenging the IIOJK High Court’s 2022 order that dismissed his case citing a delay of 68 years. The land measuring 7 kanals and 18 marlas was seized in 1953 for construction of a police station without any acquisition proceedings or payment of compensation.
The matter reached courts in 2021, more than a quarter century after the birth of the petitioner. The court said it could not order fresh acquisition due to the lapse of nearly seven decades. However, it directed the land acquisition officer to start proceedings from 2021, when Wani approached the High Court.
“The bench also ordered calculation and payment of rentals from 1953, when the land was forcibly occupied. The final amount for acquisition and rentals will be determined by the High Court. Wani had sought restoration of possession or initiation of acquisition with compensation and rental payment since 1953. The High Court had earlier termed it a “dead cause of action.”
The IIOJK administration opposed the petition, claiming the police had been in peaceful possession since 1953 and that records were lost in the 2014 floods.
