Roshni Act: BJP slams Congress, NC for ‘encroaching’ on state land in J&K

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 24

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday demanded a thorough probe into the alleged 'Roshni scam', accusing Congress and National Conference leaders of encroaching on large tracts of government and forest land in Jammu and Kashmir.

Prasad said names of several top politicians, including NC leader Farooq Abdullah and former state ministers from the Congress and the National Conference had come to light for allegedly benefiting from the Roshni Act.

"There was a conscious loot by powerful people of forest land and getting benefits under the Roshni Act, which has been declared unconstitutional by the High Court," Prasad said, terming it the "lowest ebb in a democratic polity".

"Names of various politicians of the state have appeared in that list," he said, naming former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, his sister and various Congress and NC leaders.

It is very unfortunate that key leaders of Jammu and Kashmir, including Farooq Abdullah, used their influence and power for "land grabbing and appropriated government land", he said.

Also read: Abdullahs’ house in Jammu built on encroached land: JK administration list

Meanwhile, the party's Kashmir unit said those who were talking of protecting lands of people had "looted property worth crores in the Roshni land scam” and urged investigating agencies to put the accused behind the bars.

BJP's media in-charge in Kashmir Manzoor Bhatt said Roshni land scam had "opened the eyes of people and exposed the regional party leaders who were talking of land laws and other things".

"The Roshni land scam has exposed the ill designs of regional parties who looted the resources and built their properties…. Those who were saying that Jammu and Kashmir is on sale after Article 370 abrogation grabbed property worth thousands of crores under the shadow of Roshni Act," said Bhat.

As per Bhat some wards and relatives of NC and PDP politicians had built their businesses on encroached land and some were even running NGOs on the same land.

“The list of allotments is very long and hundreds of kanals was transferred to high profile leaders and influential bureaucrats in the region, all should be investigated,” he said.

The Jammu and Kashmir State Land (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001 is also known as the Roshni Act.