J&K admin working on details of beneficiaries of alleged Roshni Act scam

Days after the J and K high court ordered a CBI probe into an alleged scam in the Roshni land scheme of 2001, the UT administration on Wednesday directed all deputy commissioners of Kashmir division to submit details of influential persons including former ministers, legislators, bureaucrats and police officers who have benefited from the scheme.

The Jammu and Kashmir State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001, commonly known as the Roshni scheme, was enacted with the twin objectives of generating resources for financing power projects and conferment of proprietary rights to the occupants of the state's land.

It was repealed in November 2018 by the State Administrative Council (SAC) under the chairmanship of the then Governor Satya Pal Malik.

On Wednesday, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, P K Pole chaired a meeting of deputy commissioners and other concerned officials and directed them to submit comprehensive details of ministers, legislators, bureaucrats, police officers, government employees, businessmen, other influential persons and their relatives who have derived any benefit under the Act, officials said.

Pole directed all the deputy commissioners of Kashmir division to submit the district-wise details of the state's lands as in 2001, status of the lands and well as encroachment and illegal occupation at the earliest.

Pole stressed on constituting district-level teams to collect all required details "on a war footing", the officials said, adding, he instructed the concerned officials to ensure no laxity in this regard and directed all DCs to ensure implementation of directions of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in letter and spirit.

On October 9, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court had ordered a CBI probe into alleged financial irregularities in the Roshni land scheme.

The HC was hearing a petition alleging that the state exchequer had to bear an estimated loss of Rs 25,000 crore due to the scam.

The high court had asked the CBI to take over the probe and file a status report every eight weeks.

The administration had also ordered a probe by the anti-corruption bureau into alleged instances of cornering high-value prime lands in Jammu and Srinagar cities by misusing the law.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau of Jammu (Vigilance), which was investigating the matter till the HC asked the CBI to take over, had registered 17 FIRs in connection with the alleged scam.