SRINAGAR — Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said her party has 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 these lands for over 30 years. It aims to secure ownership rights, prevent arbitrary evictions, and promote social and economic stability across Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba told reporters here.
Highlighting the ongoing land and lease crisis in Gulmarg and other parts of the Kashmir Valley, the former chief minister said that the Land Grant Rules, 2022 have 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, the PDP president said, adding that the absence of a clear government policy on lease renewal and land regularisation has created deep uncertainty — hurting tourism, local employment, and investor confidence in Kashmir’s hospitality sector.
Despite Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s repeated promises to protect people’s land rights, no concrete policy or legal framework has been adopted to safeguard them in courts, Mehbooba alleged.
She said that while PDP MLAs have submitted the Bill to the Assembly Secretariat, the government should either adopt and implement it or bring a legislation of its own, which her party will duly support.
A large number of hotels and business establishments in Jammu and Kashmir currently operate on government lands with leases of varied period of time, 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 promulgated during the chief ministership of Farooq Abdullah.
The law envisaged granting ownership of state lands to unauthorised occupants upon payment of a government-determined sum.
However, the law was struck down by the High Court in 2020.
After the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, the government did not renew the leases of several businesses, including hotels, and launched a drive in 2022 to evict unauthorised occupants.
The PDP’s private member bill aims to protect the interests of these land occupants. — (PTI)