Roshni Scam List: Farooq Abdullah Among Big Names in J&K Landgrabbing Case

SRINAGAR: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah’s name surfaced in the J &K landgrabbing case under the Roshni Act scheme. Pursuant to the high court’s directions regarding the ₹25,000 crore Roshni land scam, the Jammu and Kashmir administration is posting the lists of names of beneficiaries, which include influential people including politicians, on the government website. The list included the names of  former ministers and their family members, who are and were associated with PDP, Congress and NC, prominent hotelier from Kashmir, a former bureaucrat and his wife, a former banker from J&K Bank, a former Congress minister from Doda and a former NC minister from Kishtwar. 

Termed as  'biggest' land scam in Jammu and Kashmir, the Roshni scheme was initiated by the Farooq Abdullah government. Under the Roshni scheme, encroached state land was to be regularised by the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the money collected under the scheme was to be utilised to fund hydroelectric projects for the people of the state. Auditory agencies, however, claim the scheme was used to regularise encroached properties at throwaway prices and thus violated the very basis of Jammu and Kashmir State Lands (vesting of ownership rights to the Occupants) Act, 2001 under which funds were to be utilised for public welfare.

The J&K High Court has declared Roshni Act “illegal, unconstitutional and unsustainable” and a CBI probe has been ordered into the allotment of land under this law. CBI has registered four cases in this regard so far.

Meanwhile Farooq Abdullah and  his son Omar Abdullah are going to be in self-isolation for a week after a member of their staff at their residence tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday. (With inputs from PTI and Economic Times)