Any person from outside Jammu & Kashmir can buy land in the Union territory, which till now was exclusively meant for permanent residents and residents with domicile certificate.
This came with the Union ministry of home affairs’ notification on Tuesday making several changes to the land laws.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the ‘Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of Central Laws) Third Order, 2020’ shall come into force with immediate effect, and “will encourage development in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir”.
After the J&K’s special status under Article 370 of the Constitution was withdrawn on 5 August 2019, the reorganisation Act bifurcated the erstwhile state into two union territories — J&K and Ladakh.
Under the newly introduced J&K Development Act, the term “being permanent resident of the State” as a criteria has been “omitted”, paving the way for investors outside J&K to invest in the UT.
The Centre has been arguing that Article 370 hampered development in the U.T. as investors were unable to purchase land prior to August 5, 2019.
The Restriction on Conversion of Agricultural Land and Process for Permission of Non-Agriculture clause, however, puts conditions on the use of agricultural land. “No land used for agriculture purposes shall be used for any non-agricultural purposes except with the permission of the district collector”, it reads.
Under a new provision, an Army officer not below the rank of Corps Commander can declare an area as “Strategic Area” within a local area, only for direct operational and training requirements of the armed forces.
The order comes into force with immediate effect. The General Clauses Act, 1897 applies for the interpretation of this Order as it applies for interpretation of laws in force in the territory of India, the order stated, reported Times Now.
Political parties, including the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) opposed the move.
