Referring to the agreement entered between the President of India with the erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir way back in 1956, whereby all the properties and assets pertaining to the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces, as they stood on Sep 01, 1949, shall vest in the Union, the Jammu & Kashmir & Ladakh High Court held that the khalsa land including the land-in-question shall be deemed to have been vested in the Union of India for all practical purposes and the respondents (Nazool Department) have no right over the said property in any manner whatsoever.

The ruling came while considering the petition seeking to quash notice issued by Assistant Commissioner, Srinagar (fifth respondent) whereby the petitioners have been asked to show cause as to why they should not be evicted from the land situated at Sonwar, Srinagar, being in unauthorized occupation of the public premises in pursuance of Section 4(1) of J&K Public Premises (Eviction of unauthorized occupants) Act, 1959 and 1988.

Noticing that the respondents have themselves admitted that since Sep 22, 1939, the khalsa land including the property-in-question has been under the control of the Military Department and the said position has not been altered till date, a Single Judge Bench of Justice Tashi Rabstan questioned that once said the position has not been altered and the command order of Maharaja Hari Singh is still in existence, then how and under which capacity the respondents could issue the eviction notices, which is alien to law.

Further, the Bench noted that the respondents have admitted that vide the command order of Maharaja Hari Singh, several lots of khalsa land including the property-in-question within the Badamibagh Cantonment area came to be transferred to the control of the Military Department for which the Revenue Department of the State had also accorded no objection.

From a perusal of the command order dated Sep 22, 1939, the Bench found that it was an absolute transfer along with all rights over the land and possession of the same was also handed over to the Army or, in other words, disposing of the said land to the Army, and thus, the eviction notices are factually and legally not sustainable.

Senior Advocate Anil Bhan appeared for the Petitioner, whereas Senior AAG Mohsin Qadri appeared for the State and DSGI T.M. Shamsi for the Centre.

The brief facts of the case were that the land-in-question was leased out to one Ram Nath Chopra for a period of 40 years from Oct 27, 1907, to Oct 26, 1947, under the J&K Government Rules of 1905. When Ram Nath applied for an extension of the lease, the same was renewed for a period of 20 years in respect of four acres of land at a rent of Rs.345.76 with effect from Oct 27, 1947, to Oct 26, 1967. Later, in terms of Command Order No.273 dated Sep 22, 1939, of Maharaja Hari Singh, all the khalsa land within the Badami Bagh Cantonment area including the property-in-question popularly known as Raghunath Villa situated at Srinagar was transferred to the control of the Military Department, for which the Revenue (Nazool) Department also accorded no objection. Later, in terms of the agreement in the year 1956 entered between the President of India and the State of J&K, it was agreed that all the properties and assets pertaining to the J&K State Forces including the property-in-question shall vest to the Union of India. Accordingly, the ownership and possession of the entire land were surrendered to the Union of India. The petitioners being the successors-in-interest of Ram Nath Chopra, claim that said property-in-question has been in possession of the petitioners along with their families for the last more than a hundred years, and that they are also paying the rent, electricity charges and house tax towards the cantonment board, therefore challenged the eviction notice before the High Court.

After considering the submission, the Bench found that the respondents have neither disputed leasing out of the property-in-question by the Government of J&K in favour of one Ram Nath Chopra for 40 years nor denied that the family of Ram Nath Chopra have owned the said property for the last more than hundred years since the year 1907.

“Even respondents 1 to 5 have not denied the paying of house tax, electricity charges etc. by the petitioners herein towards the Cantonment Board and some of the receipts have also been annexed by the petitioners herein with the writ petition, which itself shows that the land-in-question falls within the jurisdiction of the Cantonment Board and that ownership rights stand vested in the Ministry of Defence”, added the Bench.

Finding that the present controversy has already been set at rest by the Apex Court in Civil Appeal No.4326/1971, wherein the Nazool Department has conceded and surrendered to the Union of India vis-à-vis ownership, title and possession of the entire 56 kanals of land in and around Gupkar and Sonwar localities, which also include the property-in-question, the High Court quashed the notices issued by Assistant Commissioner, Nazool, Srinagar.

Cause Title: Vikram Chopra and Anr. v. State of J&K and Ors.

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Jammu & Kashmir & Ladakh High CourtActing Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan

Pankaj Bajpai