PDP submits Bill to safeguard interests of land occupants: Mehbooba

Srinagar, Oct 8 (PTI) Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said her party has submitted the Jammu and Kashmir Land Rights and Regularisation Bill, 2025, for discussion in the forthcoming session of the Legislative Assembly.

The proposed legislation, also termed Anti-bulldozer Bill, aims to regularise land holdings of individuals, families and institutions who have been in continuous possession of these lands for over 30 years. This will secure ownership rights, prevent arbitrary evictions, and ensure social and economic stability across Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba told reporters here.

Highlighting the ongoing land and lease crisis in Gulmarg and other parts of Kashmir, the former chief minister said that the Land Grant Rules, 2022, have ended the renewal of old leases, putting dozens of hotels operating on expired leases at the risk of eviction or government takeover through auction.

Nearly 60 hotels in Gulmarg, including heritage establishments such as Nedous and Highlands Park, have received takeover notices from the Gulmarg Development Authority (GDA), she said.

Hoteliers who have invested heavily now face severe financial distress, legal uncertainty and threats to livelihoods, the PDP president said.

She also said that the absence of a clear government policy on lease renewal and land regularisation has created deep uncertainty, hurting tourism, local employment and investor confidence in Kashmir's hospitality sector.

Despite Chief Minister Omar Abdullah repeatedly promising to protect people's land rights, no concrete policy or legal stand has yet been adopted to safeguard them in courts, Mehbooba said.

She said that while the PDP MLAs have submitted the Bill to the Assembly Secretariat, the government should either adopt and implement it or bring a legislation of its own that will be duly supported by her party.

A large number of hotels and business establishments in Jammu and Kashmir are currently operating on government lands with leases running over varied periods of time, while vast tracts of land have been occupied for decades by farmers with no land ownership.

In 2001, the Jammu and Kashmir State Land (Vesting of Ownership to Occupants) Act -- commonly known as Roshni Act -- was promulgated during the chief ministership of Farooq Abdullah.

The law envisaged granting ownership of state lands to unauthorised occupants of those lands up on payment of a sum determined by the government.

However, the law was struck down by the high court in 2020.

After the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, the government did not renew the lease of several businesses, including hotels, while a drive was launched in 2022 to evict unauthorised occupants.

The PDP private member's bill aims to protect the interests of these land occupants. PTI MIJ RUK RUK