Srinagar: The J&K High Court on Tuesday treated a petition on the issue of soil extraction as Public Interest Litigation after the court recorded that it is an issue concerning state land.
The petitioner Mohammad Maqbool Dar, a resident of Delina Baramulla submitted before the court that on May 22, additional Deputy Commissioner, Baramulla passed an order wherein IRCON International Limited through its agent Farooq Ahmad Marzi has been given permission for extraction of soil in a residential area in a novel and shoddy manner.
It was submitted by the petitioner that there is a huge chunk of state land around Delhi Public School which has been encroached by the Managing Director, Cooperative Housing Colony, JJ Builders, Mushtaq Ahmad Kachroo, Abdul Waheed Kachroo and Abdul Majeed Dar.
The said issue was brought into the notice of Divisional Commissioner Kashmir by way of representation wherein Deputy Commissioner Baramulla was asked to look into the matter but so far nothing has been done.
The petitioner further submitted before the court that the Manager of the Cooperative Housing Colony was asked about the illegal constructions raised on the state land being violative of the laws and acts of the land but it was astonishing to note that the respondent showed utter dismay over the fact that the land in question was the Shamilat Deh Mahfooz Kahcharari land.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul while hearing the submissions recorded that the court is of the opinion that the matter relates to public interest.
Accordingly, it is directed to be registered as Public Interest Litigation and be placed before the bench for hearing.
The Bench said, “We are satisfied that the matter is in public interest as much as the petitioner is complaining about the extraction of the soil from the State Land. However, we do not find the petitioner has disclosed his credentials in initiating this Public Interest litigation.”
“We allow the counsel for the petitioner to file a supplementary affidavit disclosing the credentials of the petitioner in filing this PIL,” the Bench said.
The court will hear this matter on 15 July, 2021.

NUSRAT SIDIQ