SRINAGAR: The High Court has upheld a trial court decision denying the release of a passport to Mohammad Najeeb Goni due to the pendency of an FIR related to alleged land grabbing.
Goni had challenged the charge sheet arising from FIR No. 28/2018, registered under Sections 420, 447-A, and 120-B of the RPC, as well as the proceedings before the Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class Tangmarg. He also contested the order dated December 30, 2023, which rejected his plea for the release of the passport.
The charge sheet states that the Crime Branch Kashmir received complaints from residents of Bangil, Tangmarg, alleging that Goni, in connivance with land brokers, encroached upon approximately 25 kanals of state land in Dhobiwan Kunzar. He allegedly placed signboards and stone blocks to illegally convert the land into saleable plots.
Investigations revealed that around 24 kanals of state land, scattered within Goni’s proprietary land, had been encroached upon and later demolished by revenue authorities following the registration of the FIR.
Goni argued that reports from the Crime Branch and revenue officials indicated that the land was vacant, claiming this nullified the allegations of encroachment. However, Justice Sanjay Dhar dismissed the petition, stating that eviction of an illegal occupier does not negate the offence.
The court observed that revenue records clearly indicate Goni’s illegal occupation of state land and held that mere retrieval of the land does not absolve the alleged illegal act. “For the foregoing reasons, I do not find any merit in this petition. The same is, accordingly, dismissed,” the court ruled.
However, the court allowed the petitioner to approach the trial court for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the issuance or renewal of his passport. (JKNS)
