"Look Into Rehabilitation Of Displaced Kashmiri Pandits Who Suffered Due To Terrorism In J&K" : Punjab & Haryana HC To Haryana Govt

Asking the Haryana Government to look into the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday directed it to include the names of displaced Kashmiri Pandits in a draw of lot for allotment of plots in Haryana's Bahadurgarh.

The order by the bench of Justice Amol Rattan Singh and Justice Lalit Batra came on a plea filed seeking allotment of residential plots to Kashmiri Pandits, who were displaced from their homes due to terrorism in the years 1990-91, in Jammu & Kashmir.

The case in brief 

In total 14 writs have been filed by the petitioners (hailing from the Kashmiri Pandit community) through Advocate Padam Kant Dwivedi submitting that they had decided to leave Kashmir between 1989-and 90 due to the deteriorating situation there and they purchased plots in Haryana's Bahadurgarh but the possession of the same hasn't been delivered to them eve after 30 years. 

One of the petitioners submitted that after leaving Kashmir when he came to Bahadurgarh in Haryana, he bought plots of 200-300 yards with his deposited capital.

After this, in the year 1995, the Haryana government decided to acquire 10 acres of land (in 1995) purchased by Kashmiri Pandits in the name of public interest, however, on a request made by the Kashmiri Pandit Association, the government decided to give them 12 acres of land (in 2002).

The petitioner has further submitted that the ownership of this land belongs to the Haryana Urban Development Authority and even after a lapse of almost three decades, Kashmiri Pandits are yet to get the land as promised to them.

On the other hand, the Haryana government said that some objections were registered during the process of plot allotment and furthermore, this matter kept hanging as some Kashmiri Pandits had moved to Court.

Court's observations

At the outset, the Court opined and ordered that all persons who are genuinely found to be displaced persons from Jammu & Kashmir due to terrorism should be included in the draw of lots.

However, the Court had further ordered that the allotment of plots not to be finalized till the state came up with a concrete policy for their rehabilitation.

The Bench also noted that the plots that were originally purchased by the Kashmiri Pandits were stated to have been acquired, but subsequently agreed to be released subject to their title being transferred to the HSVP by the purchasers.

In this regard, the Court also sought an explanation from the state government as to why it is linking mutation of plots purchased by the  and other connected matters unfortunately displaced persons in Bahadurgarh on earlier dates, to allotment of other plots in lieu thereof

Significantly, the Court directed the Haryana Government to have a relook at the entire issue, looking at the plight of those who have genuinely suffered loss of their homes at the hands of terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir more than 30 years ago and are continuing to suffer on account of no clear title to their homes.

"It is pertinent to observe that persons displaced from Pakistan in 1947, were rehabilitated by the Government of India in different districts of the then composite Punjab with property allotted to them in terms of the property left behind by them in Pakistan, on verified claims. Hence, the Government of Haryana may look into the issue from that angle to rehabilitate the Kashmiri Pandits who were displaced from their ancestral homes in Kashmir due to terrorism," the Court further remarked.

In the end, the Court made it clear that those who would be included in the draw of lots would be all such persons who applied for being so included and have been verified to be genuinely displaced Kashmiri Pandits.

However, as regards the policy to be drawn up for the displaced Kashmiri Pandits who came to Haryana, the Court directed that it would be taken as a wholesome policy.

It may be noted that In compliance with the directions of the High Court, the draw of lots was held in which the names of all 47 petitioners before the High Court beside other Kashmiri Pandits were included.

Advocate Padam Kant Dwivedi appeared for the applicant-petitioners.

Case title - RAMESH RAZDAN AND OTHERS V/S STATE OF HARYANA AND OTHERS and connected matters

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