Ruling NC MLA brings private member’s Bill to restore pre-2019 Land Grants Act in J&K

Ruling National Conference (NC) legislator Tanvir Sadiq on Thursday, October 9, 2025, said that he had moved a private member’s bill in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, seeking restoration and preservation of the original Land Grant Act as it was before the amendments introduced in 2022.

“This move aims to protect the rights of existing homeowners, protect local businesses and ensure that government lands continue to serve the people of Jammu and Kashmir rather than speculative or non-local interests. Any change in policy must come through the elected Assembly and not through unilateral administrative orders,” said MLA Sadiq.

The bill also aims to protect legal residents from eviction, ensure transparent renewals, and prioritize land grants for residents, cooperatives and local entrepreneurs.

The proposed bill is titled “Jammu and Kashmir Land Grants (Restoration and Conservation) Bill, 2025”. It aims to repeal the Land Grant Rules, 2022 notified during the Lieutenant Governor’s rule in J&K. Under the new rules, a new auction is envisaged instead of renewing residents whose leases have expired. It also allows outsiders to participate in the auction for the first time in J&K. The eviction under the Land Grant Rules 2022 is expected to impact the popular tourist destination Gulmarg, where leases of around 50 hotels and cottages have expired by 2018.

“The bill aims to revive the 1960 framework that regulates lease and grant of government land across the Union Territory,” Mr. Sadiq said.

The NC’s Bill came a day after the Opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) also introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Land Rights and Regulation Bill; This bill proposed to “regulate the land holdings of individuals, families and institutions who have continuously owned land for more than 30 years, thereby securing property rights, preventing arbitrary evictions and ensuring social and economic stability in Jammu and Kashmir.”