What is the ‘Roshni Scam’?
The ‘Roshni scam’ derives its name from the controversial Roshni Act. In 2001, the J&K legislative Assembly passed the Act to give ownership rights to holders of state land under the Roshni scheme. The Act that granted legal ownership rights to those who held government land in Jammu and Kashmir over several decades was passed when Farooq Abdullah’s NC was a part of the BJP-led NDA government.
Under the Act, about 2.06 million kanals of land was to be transferred to the existing occupants. One kanal equals 605 square yards. The initial estimate of the revenue this would generate was about Rs 25,448 crore, that would be invested in J&K‘s power sector, reported Economic Times.
According to a CAG report in 2014, the actual transfer of 3,48,160 kanals of land in J&K was supposed to amass Rs 327.54 crore. However, it brought in just Rs 76.24 crore instead.
In 2018, then Governor Satya Pal Malik repealed the Roshni Act and cancelled all pending applications. In October 2020, the J&K High Court declared the Act unconstitutional and declared all land rights given under it, null and void. The court also asked the government to publish the names of political leaders who have been given land at throwaway prices.