Government’s approval for the sale and purchase of such property.
The Government is also likely to investigate the deals so far and take action in three months.
The April 16, 2008 order has come following an inquiry report which reveals violations in the process of sale and purchase of land belonging to Pandit religious institutions in the Valley.
In most of the cases, the shrine managers have been found guilty. The properties include shops and land belonging to temple trusts.
“We had ordered an inquiry by the Settlement Commissioner of Jammu and Kashmir in February and found that there have been many cases where land and property of temples and other religious institutions of Kashmiri Pandits were sold by the mahants or temple managers. The order has been issued to safeguard these properties and put some checks and balances in place,” said Masaud Samoon, Secretary, Revenue, Jammu and Kashmir.
The J&K government passed an order stating that Deputy Commissioner of the area will be responsible for shrine properties. No sale deal can be registered without prior approval of the Deputy Commissioner of the concerned area. The order says that no revenue records should be issued to the mahants or managers of the shrine without the permission of the Deputy Commissioner.
The order states that any deal executed by any mahant or manager shall have to be attested by a Tehsildar after getting clearance from the Deputy Commissioner.
The issue was highlighted by a pressure group of Kashmiri Pandits who stayed back in the Valley after 1990. The group, Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti, had even filed a case in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court demanding that all deals involving the temple properties after 1990 be cancelled and accounts of the trusts be sealed.
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