HC upholds declining passport for FIR in land grabbing case

Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 7: The High Court has upheld the order of a trial court declining to release the passport to man for pendency of FIR in lieu of grabbing of state land.
The petitioner- Mohammad Najeeb Goni challenged charge sheet arising out of FIR No.28/2018 for offences under Section 420, 447A and 120-B RPC and the proceedings emanating there from, which are stated to be pending before the Court of Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Tangmarg as also the order dated 30.12.2023 passed by the trial court, whereby the prayer for release of passport in his favour has been declined.
As per the impugned charge sheet, a complaint came to be received by the Crime Branch, Kashmir, from the inhabitants of Village Bangil Tangmarg, alleging therein that Goni in connivance with land brokers, have trespassed and encroached upon the State land measuring approximately 25 kanals situated at Village Dhobiwan Kunzar.
It was also alleged that accused persons have encroached upon the land by erecting sign boards and stone blocks and converted the same into plots so that the same can be offered for sale to the interested persons. On the basis of these allegations, FIR No.28/2018 for offences under Section 420, 447-A and 120-B RPC came to be registered and investigation was set into motion.
During investigation, it was found that the State land measuring approximately 24 kanals is scattered within the proprietary land of the petitioner-Goni and he with intention to grab the scattered State land in connivance with co-encroached upon the State land and erected sign boards on the said land including the State land which was later on demolished by the revenue authorities after registration of the FIR.
The petitioner has challenged the impugned challan on the grounds that after verification conducted by the team comprising of Crime Branch officials and revenue field staff, a comprehensive report dated was prepared and as per the report, the State land was found vacant and the complaint against the petitioner was found to be baseless and in view of this finding, which is undisputed, it cannot be stated that he has encroached upon the State land as the same has been retrieved even before the filing of charge sheet and, therefore, no offence of criminal trespass is made out against the petitioner.
Justice Sanjay Dhar refused to accept these arguments advanced by the counsel for the petitioner by recording that an illegal occupier may be evicted later on but that does not mean that no offence has been committed by the person as such the argument of Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner is, therefore, without any substance.
“So far as the material collected by the Investigating Agency in support of their allegation that the petitioner had occupied the State land, is concerned, it is clear from a perusal of the trial court record, particularly the revenue extracts, that the petitioner is shown to be in illegal occupation of State land”, Justice Dhar said.
The court added that the land, if occupied by the petitioner, has been retrieved does not absolve him of his alleged illegal action of encroaching it. “For the foregoing reasons, I do not find any merit in this petition. The same is, accordingly, dismissed. It shall, however, be open to the petitioner to approach the trial court for grant of NOC in his favour for the purpose of issuance/renewal of his passport”, the court concluded.

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