Only encroached land was retrieved from Hotel Nedou: Officials
ABRAR MATTOO
SRINAGAR, Jan 31: Amidst the government’s anti-encroachment drive due to which a Damocles sword hangs over the influential land grabbers in Jammu and Kashmir, the administration retrieved nearly 40 Kanals of illegally occupied land from the owners of Nedou’s hotel in Srinagar. However, an investigation carried out by Kashmir Despatch has revealed that it was only the tip of the rot as claimed by the officials.
The officials said the hotel is built over sprawling 153 Kanals of land, out of which nearly 40 kanals were state land and the rest was leased out to the owners. However, the live status of the lease itself poses a question mark on the claims made by the owners of Nedous.
According to court documents ascertained by Kashmir Despatch, the high court refused to entertain a writ petition filed by Umar Khaleel, in regard to the renewal of the lease in his name as the legal heir of Colonel Michael Harry Nedou, the original lessee. It would be prudent to mention here that Colonel Michael Harry Nedou was the father of Akbar Jehan, wife of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.
The court noted that Umar Khaleel has no right to continue the possession of the said land. The lease had been rescinded/revoked under vide G.O No: 694-GD of 1982 dated 12/03/1982 issued by the General Department and under Govt. Order No: PW-140 Dev of 1963 dated 12-07-1963. Therefore, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir upheld the same orders in its judgment dated 06-09-2018.
In a clear contraction to all the previous government orders, including the one passed by the honourable High Court of Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, sources told Kashmir Despatch that “the lease deed over more than 103 Kanals of land under Nedou’s Srinagar was renewed in the year 2019 under shady circumstances. The lease was renewed for 90 years, including the twenty years in retrospect at an annual rent of Rs. 30,000, which translated to around Rs. 25 as monthly rent for a quantum of 1 Kanal.”
It is prudent to mention here that New Land Grants Rules, 2022, have reduced the lease period to only 40 years, by virtue of which, the previously granted leases are considered illegal.
Nevertheless, the hotel land was taken over by ITC on a long lease which planned to set up a 114-room five-star hotel with 25 deluxe rooms in the same year.
Nedou’s estate at Lal Chowk has housed many prominent members of Abdullah family. Former Chief Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah also used to live in his house on the same land. Later his sons, Dr Mustafa Kamal, late Tariq Abdullah, adopted son Sheikh Nazir Ahmad, son-in-law Ghulam Mohammad Shah and his family and Col. Ghulam Qadir’s extended family also lived in different houses at the same premises. The Shahs and the Nedou’s are still living on the said land.
Speaking with the media, Muzaffar Shah, the vice president of Awami National Conference, and the grandson of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah who also lives at the said property said that his family, “will take the matter to the supreme court.”
Ironically, on Tuesday, 31 January, while the authorities were removing the encroachments at different places, including at Hotel Nedou’s Srinagar, the Supreme Court refused to entertain the plea which challenged the removal of encroachments on government land, including Roshni land and Kachharie land in Jammu and Kashmir.
Further, it is important to note here that Umar Khaleel has also encroached 100 Kanals and 06 Marlas of forest land under his Nedou’s hotel at Gulmarg. This is in excess of the 2 Kanals and 13 Marlas of land over which the lease had expired in 1995. CEO Gulmarg Development Authority had issued an eviction notice against Umar Khaleel in 2015 to vacate both the encroached land and the land over which the lease had expired nearly 20 years ago. Surprisingly, Nedou’s Gulmarg continues to spread over a sprawling 103 Kanals of government land.
Many sections of the society in Jammu and Kashmir have welcomed the move that the government has started to retrieve the land from influential land grabbers such as politicians and bureaucrats. Though the list of the influential land grabbers that have been targeted thus far by the government may seem short, it includes political heavyweights such as Ali Mohammad Sagar, Haseeb Drabu, Peerzada Mohd Syed, Syed Farooq Andrabi, heirs of former chief minister Syed Mir Qasim, and Ghulam Hassan Khan.
While the general masses have been promised immunity against the government’s anti-encroachment drive by Lt. Governor Shri Manoj Sinha, it remains to be seen what may unfold and which big names would surface and who will be targeted further.
