PRESS RELEASE
HCBA/PR/06-87/10 DATED:23/01/2010

Kindly find the text of the letter for publication in your news paper, written by the J&K High Court Bar Association to various District and Mufassil Bar Association of the State for seeking further information, cooperation and assistance to unearth the land scandal with regard to sale of land in and around Sonamarg, Pahalgam and Patnitop to non state subjects.

To,

The President,

District Bar Association

Ganderbal Kashmir

Sub : Sale of land to non state subjects in and around Sonamarg, Pahalgam and Patnitop.

Respected Sir,

As it is already made public by the J&K High Court Bar Association that the non state subjects belonging to a particular community are purchasing land at Sonamarg, Pahalgam and Patnitop through agreements to sell and in this behalf the Bar Association is in possession of various agreements to sale wherein the proposed vendees have shown fictitious residence in Kashmir valley in particular and other parts of the State, when actually these vendees are neither state subjects of the state of Jammu and Kashmir nor they have any kind of provisional residence within the state. In this entire design a group of brokers is active across the valley and at Patnitop Jammu who are luring the locals with high cost sales and are in league with the revenue authorities in the concerned areas. Since the matter is of very serious nature as a particular group of persons are bent upon to sacrify the national and public interest for their particular individual interests. The Bar Association observes that on the basis of said agreements to sell, the revenue authorities are in a process to enter in revenue records possessory rights (in Sahti Kashkalam) of the revenue records in the name of such prospective owners.

The Bar Association is viewing the matter with all seriousness and in this behalf an extra ordinary meeting of the Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association was convened wherein it was decided to initiate a process for securing further information about this land scandal taking place more particularly in Sonamarg and Pahalgam areas. It was decided that in this regard, the District and Mufassil Bar Associations be contacted & requested through a written communication to seek information from the local people and obtain copies of such documents from the registration courts and public notaries from their respective areas and share the information with the Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association.

Accordingly pursuant to the decision of the Bar Association I request you through the medium of this request letter to take necessary action in obtaining such information with reference to the context and share the same information with the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association and in order to help us to pursue a purposeful process to unearth this scandal for protecting the public interest at large and enable us to take desired legal action in the matter. Such information can be communicated also on the e-mail addresses given below.

Hope the matter is taken seriously and your cooperation is solicited.

G.N.Shaheen,
Secretary,
J&K High Court Bar Association.
Dated : 23-01-2010