STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Much hyped Roshni scheme, which was supposed to generate several thousand crores of rupees and enrich the State coffers continues to remain a big blot on the image of the white collared top bureaucrats, politicians and beneficiaries who made merry in the absence of any follow up.
Sources told STATE TIMES that pressure is building up on the PDP-BJP government to pursue and penalise wrong doers lest their connivance will become discernible.
Interestingly, many senior bureaucrats and politicians, allegedly involved in the brazen loot, have been either enjoying cozy comforts of their drawing rooms after retiring without facing any reprimand or have left the State to pursue their brand of politics in the national capital, leaving behind all those who lack authority to proceed further.
According to official sources, the General Administration Department acted as biggest stumbling block as it failed to grant mandatory sanction for prosecuting senior serving officials whose names were furnished by the SVO after completing investigation in the case.
Though the State Vigilance Organisation has filed number of FIRs against several officers and officials of the Revenue Department for their alleged involvement in illegalities committed in the transfer of the State land under Roshni Act but in the absence of timely follow up and submission of documents by the officers posted across different district headquarters the anti graft body has failed to make major headway.
The SVO had registered over one dozen FIRs on the basis of complaints received from the Principal Accountant General (Audit) to J&K State Vigilance Commission through State Vigilance Organisation regarding illegalities.
During the investigation of the complaint, it emerged that while settling the cases of illegal occupants for vesting of ownership rights, the officers/officials of Revenue Department in District Jammu had committed illegalities by abusing their official position, which includes improper recorded possession and insufficient and incomplete documents. Also, the rates had not been fixed by Price Fixation Committee, as per provision of the Act and in many cases money had not been remitted to Government Treasury. Besides, violation of Prevention of Ribbon Development Act, non-eviction of illegal occupants from the State land and not putting it to auction also surfaced during the verification.
The omission and commission on the part of Revenue officers/officials of District Jammu prima-facie constitute offences u/s 5(1)(c), 5(1)(d), r/w 5(2) of J&K P.C.Act, Svt 2006 section 120-B RPC and section 17 of State Land (Vesting of Ownership to Occupants) Act, 2001, for which a case has been registered and further investigation taken up.
The Jammu and Kashmir State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001, or the Roshni Act, was meant to raise nearly Rs 25,448 crore to finance power projects by selling over 20.64 lakh kanals of state land under unauthorised occupation.
The CAG had detected irregularities in transfer of encroached land to occupants in the state from 2007 to 2013, saying the State Government realised just Rs 76 crore against a target of Rs 25,448 crore.