The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has put on hold its earlier direction to initiate criminal proceedings against the former Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Ganderbal in connection with a false statement filed before the court regarding a disputed property.
Hearing a review petition filed by the Union Territory administration, a bench of Justice Sanjay Dhar according to Srinagar-based news-gathering agency Kashmir Dot Com, issued notice to the original petitioner, Abdul Majid Sofi, while staying direction (II) of paragraph 19 of the previous judgment. This direction had mandated the Principal District Judge, Ganderbal, to consider launching criminal proceedings against the former DC for submitting misleading statements.
The court clarified that the stay is limited to this aspect of the judgment, while the rest of the order remains intact.
The matter has been listed for the next hearing on April 22. Until then, the Principal District Judge, Ganderbal, has been instructed not to act on the directive regarding criminal proceedings.
The case pertains to a six-story building in Beehama, Ganderbal, leased by Sofi to Central University Kashmir (CUK) for use as a student hostel. The dispute arose when the District Administration allegedly took over the property forcibly for accommodating politically protected persons without obtaining the owner’s consent.
The previous ruling had ordered compensation for Sofi and held the administration accountable for unauthorized occupation. However, with the latest development, the criminal action against the ex-DC remains uncertain until further court deliberations.