Jammu & Kashmir And Ladakh High Court Weekly Roundup November 25 - December 1, 2024

Dilawar Javid Bhat Vs UT Of J&K 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 317

Abdul Majeed Lone Vs Union of India 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 318

Kewal Krishan Vs Sham Lal 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 319

Ajeet Kumar Vs UT Of J&K 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 320

Shenaz Begum th. Abdul Mazeed Vs UT Of J&K 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 321

UT Of J&K Vs Seema Koul & Anr 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 322

Sanjeev Gupta vs UT Of J&K 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 323

Judgments/Orders:

Powers Of Divisional Commissioners To Detain Under PITNDPS Remain Intact Even In Post-Reorganization Phase: J&K High Court Clarifies

Case Title: Dilawar Javid Bhat Vs UT Of J&K

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 317

Dismissing a petition challenging a detention order under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988 (PITNDPS Act) the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court clarified that the authority of the Divisional Commissioners to issue detention orders under PITNDPS remains intact despite the J&K Reorganization Act, 2019, unless specifically superseded by corresponding Central laws.

Right To Property Is A Human Right: J&K High Court Orders Rental Compensation To Landowner For 45 Yr Long Illegal Occupation

Case Title: Abdul Majeed Lone Vs Union of India

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 318

Reaffirming that the right to property is fundamental to human dignity and cannot be compromised without legal process and fair compensation, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court directed the Union of India to pay rental compensation to Abdul Majeed Lone, a Tangdhar landowner whose property has been under military occupation since 1978 without due process.

Errors Which Are Not Self-Evident, Have To Be Detected Cannot Justify Invoking Power Of Review Under O.47 R.1 CPC: J&K High Court

Case Title: Kewal Krishan Vs Sham Lal

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 319

Defining the boundaries of judicial review the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has emphasised that errors not evident on the face of the record cannot justify review under Order XLVII Rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC).

A bench of Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul held, “An error that is not self-evident and has to be detected by a process of reasoning can hardly be said to be an error apparent on the face of record justifying the court to exercise its power of review under Order XLVII Rule 1 CPC”

Approaching HC For Bail U/S 483 BNSS Without Approaching Trial Court Unnecessarily Burdens HC: J&K High Court

Case Title: Ajeet Kumar Vs UT Of J&K

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 320

Criticising the growing trend of directly approaching the High Court for bail under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court observed that bypassing the trial courts in such matters not only burdens the High Court but also disregards the legal protocol, where such petitions should typically be first addressed by the courts below.

"Suffering From Schizophrenia, No Purpose In Continued Custody": J&K High Court Grants Bail To Woman Accused Of Killing 3-Month Old Son

Case Title: Shenaz Begum th. Abdul Mazeed Vs UT Of J&K

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 321

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court granted bail to one Shenaz Begum, accused of murdering her three-month-old son in 2021 observing that the applicant's schizophrenia diagnosis and the absence of a plausible motive rendered her continued judicial custody purposeless.

Kashmiri Pandit Woman Continues To Retain Migrant Status Despite Marriage To Non-Migrant: J&K High Court

Case Title: UT Of J&K Vs Seema Koul & Anr

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 322

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has ruled that a Kashmiri Pandit woman does not lose her "migrant status" upon marrying a non-migrant.

A bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Mohammad Yousuf Wani clarified, “.. to hold that the woman would lose her status as a migrant only because she, out of the natural urge of forming a family, had to marry a non-migrant on account of existing circumstances, would be grossly discriminatory and militates against the very concept of justice. This discrimination becomes even more brazen where a male migrant continues to remain a migrant notwithstanding the fact that he has married a non-migrant”

Unregistered Agreement Insufficient To Transfer Leasehold Rights, Housing Board's Procedure Paramount: J&K High Court

Case Title: Sanjeev Gupta vs UT Of J&K

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 323

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court reaffirmed that an unregistered agreement to sell is inadequate to transfer leasehold rights, emphasizing the exclusive procedure of the J&K Housing Board for such transfers.