34 people from outside bought properties in J&K after 370 article abrogation

NEW DELHI, Mar 29:  34 people so far from outside Jammu and Kashmir have bought properties in the Union Territory after the abrogation of Article 370, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said in Lok Sabha today. Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and also barred people from outside to acquire properties, was abrogated on August 5, 2019, and the erstwhile State was bifurcated into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

“As per the information provided by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, 34 people from outside the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have bought properties in the UT of J&K after the abrogation of Article 370,” he said replying to a written question. Rai said the properties are located in Jammu, Reasi, Udhampur, and Ganderbal districts. The question was raised by Haji Fazlur Rehman of the Bahujan Samaj Party in the Lok Sabha.

MHA earlier had informed that “seven plots of land” have been purchased by persons from outside, meaning thereby that 27 more people have bought the properties in J&K in the last three months. While the previous purchases were restricted to the Jammu division, the MHA informed that the properties have been bought in Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district also.
Rehman had sought to know the number of people from outside Jammu and Kashmir who have bought property in J&K after the abrogation of Article 370 and the location of the areas where the properties have been purchased.

In August last year, the Home Ministry informed Parliament that two persons from outside J&K have purchased properties in the J&K following the effective annulling of Article 370, which barred people from outside J&K to buy land or property in the region. The wires of the Government decision have been challenged before the Supreme Court in a bunch of petitions but the Apex Court has not fixed any hearing date hitherto despite applications for early hearings recently.