Question: Recently scrapped roshni act belonged to which of the following state ?
a) U.P.
b) Bihar
c) Jammu and Kashmir
d) none of the above
Answer: c)
Related Fact:
Context
- In a U-turn, the J&K administration has sought modifications to the High Court judgment passed on October 9, which declared the 2001 Roshni Act null and void in the Union Territory (UT) and directed authorities to end the ownership rights of occupants of government land.
Facts
- Petition argued that current judgment will affect not just those who have misused the law but also to those poor beneficiaries who were genuine recipient.
- It is imperative to first distinguish between these to class of people and then focus the CBI investigation on those who have misused the law.
Roshni Act
- Enacted in 2001, the law sought to regularise unauthorised land.
- The Act envisaged the transfer of ownership rights of state land to its occupants, subject to the payment of a cost, as determined by the government.
- The government said the revenue generated would be spent on commissioning hydroelectric power projects, hence the name “Roshni”.
- Further, through amendments, the government also gave ownership rights of agricultural land to farmers occupying it for free, charging them only Rs 100 per kanal as documentation fee.
Why it was scrapped?
- In 2009, state vigilance commission registered an FIR against various state official for misusing the act and registering the land in the name of those who do not satisfy the criterion under the roshni act.
- In 2014 a CAG report has estimated that only 76 crore has been realised instead of targeted 25000 crore.
By – Kameshwar Shukla