Armed Forces in Kashmir no longer require clearance certificate for land acquisition

The government had come up with a circular in 1971 under which acquisition of land by Army, CRPF, BSF and other similar agencies required an NoC from Home department.

On March 18, 2020, the Union Home Ministry notified modifications in the law to empower administration of J&K Union Territory to carry out land acquisition proceedings.

But due to repeal of Jammu & Kashmir Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act -1968 on October 31, 2019, the Revenue department withdrew the circular which mandated the Home department’s clearance for requisition/acquisition of land by forces.

Before re-organisation of Jammu and Kashmir, armed forces were acquiring land in the state under section 21 of the Jammu and Kashmir Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1968.

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act-2013 became applicable to J&K Union Territory from October 31, 2019- the day when UT came into existence.

The Act is applicable to acquisition of land for strategic purposes relating to naval, military, air force, and armed forces of the Union, including central paramilitary forces or any work vital to national security or defence of India or State police.

On March 18, 2020, the Union Home Ministry notified modifications in the law to empower administration of J&K Union Territory to carry out land acquisition proceedings.

Earlier, the Administrative Council (AC) had given its nod to construction activities in “strategic areas” by the armed forces, by amending the Control of Building Operations Act, 1988 and the J&K Development Act, 1970.

An official statement said that the amendments proposed by Housing & Urban Development Department will pave way for notifying certain areas as “strategic areas” in terms of the requirement of armed forces.

The Administration also amended rules for “regulation and promotion of the real estate sector” which includes the sale of plot, apartment, building and real estate project, by according sanction to the draft Jammu and Kashmir Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2020 under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, which has been recently made applicable to the Union Territory by way of an Adaptation Order issued by Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

The Government of India (GoI) is reportedly making modifications in almost thirty state laws 30 laws that were retained under the J-K Re-Organisation Act “to facilitate their application” to Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory.

On August 5, 2019, the Government of India unanimously abrogated Article 370 that granted the region Autonomy, as per the conditions of the Accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India.

The move was made while all communication was blacked out, political leadership jailed, and curfew imposed in the region.

Following the abrogation, Jammu and Kashmir was re-organised into two union territories, governed directly by New Delhi though a selected local administration. Since then, the Government of India has changed many laws, including those that protected indigenous Kashmiris’ land rights.

As the removal of Article 370 ended the prohibition of outsiders to own land, the Domicile law was introduced to grant citizenship of Jammu and Kashmir to outsiders, triggering a fear of Demographic change in the region. Since then, thousands of outsiders have been given the domicile certificates, including ex Indian Army personnel

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