PDP submits J&K Land Rights Bill to ‘end arbitrary evictions’: Mehbooba

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said her party had 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 referred to as the Anti-Bulldozer Bill, seeks to regularise land holdings of individuals, families and institutions that have been in continuous possession of such land for over 30 years. “This will secure ownership rights, prevent arbitrary evictions and ensure social and economic stability across J&K,” Mehbooba told reporters.

Highlighting the ongoing land and lease crisis in Gulmarg and other parts of Kashmir, the former Chief Minister said the Land Grant Rules, 2022 had ended the renewal of old leases, putting dozens of hotels operating on expired leases at 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 their livelihoods.”

She said the absence of a clear government policy on lease renewal and land regularisation had 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,” the PDP president added.

Mehbooba said PDP legislators had already submitted the Bill to the Assembly Secretariat and urged the government to either adopt and implement it or bring in legislation of its own, which her party would support.

A large number of hotels and business establishments in Jammu and Kashmir are currently operating on government land with leases of varying durations, while vast tracts of land have been occupied for decades by farmers without ownership rights.

In 2001, the Jammu and Kashmir State Land (Vesting of Ownership to Occupants) Act — commonly known as the Roshni Act — was enacted during the chief ministership of Farooq Abdullah. The law aimed to grant ownership of state land to unauthorised occupants upon payment of a government-determined sum. However, it was struck down by the High Court in 2020.

Following the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, the government did not renew the leases of several businesses, including hotels, and launched an eviction drive in 2022 against unauthorised occupants.