The decades-old matter concerning plot allotment to resettled Kashmiri Pandit families in Bahadurgarh, Jhajjar district of Haryana, appears close to resolution pending the settlement of external development charges (EDC). The Haryana government has updated the Punjab and Haryana High Court, stating that provisional allotment letters have been issued, and regular allotment letters will follow upon the resolution of the EDC issue.
In reference to numerous orders passed by different coordinate benches, from time to time, counsel representing Haryana Sahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) last week submitted to the HC that petitioners had already been delivered actual physical possession of plots/sites allotted to each one of them, preceded by provisional letter of allotments dated June 19, 2023. He submitted the limited dispute that survives for consideration is qua the EDC. It is not in dispute either that few of the petitioners have already deposited some amount in this regard.
The HSVP representative informed the HC that regular allotment letters for the petitioners would promptly follow once the aforementioned issue is conclusively resolved.
Division bench comprising Justice Arun Palli and Justice Vikram Aggarwal passed these orders while hearing a plea filed by Roop Krishen Koul and other Kashmiri Pandits demanding land allotted to them by the government for their re-settlement in Haryana.
Previously, the delay in plot allotment stemmed from a prerequisite condition, which mandated that the land exchanged by HSVP with the petitioners be officially recorded in the mutation register in favor of HSVP before actual possession could be handed over. However, complications arose due to fraudulent transactions involving the land given up by the petitioners. Some vendors sold land that exceeded their share, and in certain instances, they weren’t the rightful owners of the land they sold to the petitioners.
Previously, the bench, during a hearing on the matter, expressed difficulty in comprehending why the petitioners should endure further suffering after already experiencing hardship for the past three decades. Subsequent to the High Court’s intervention, state authorities expedited the plot allocation process for the petitioners.
