Hundreds of kanals of land allotment cancelled in Azad Kashmir

MIRPUR: The Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) High Court has cancelled 52 land allotment decrees in the Shamilat area that were previously issued by the Senior Civil Judge of Bhimber.

According to an official handout issued by the AJK Government’s Press Information Department, Senior Civil Judge Raja Imtiaz had allotted hundreds of kanals of land in 2007 to various individuals.

The High Court declared these allotments illegal and ordered their cancellation.

Justice Sardar Muhammad Ijaz Khan directed the AJK Revenue Department to nullify all actions taken under the cancelled decrees and remove them from official property records.

The court further ordered the Revenue Department to immediately restore the cemetery, playground, and other public-interest spaces that had been unlawfully allotted within the Shamilat land. It also instructed officials to correct the relevant property records accordingly.

Exercising powers under Section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the High Court additionally directed the Mirpur Division Magistrate Court to submit the complete record of the issued decrees within two months. This will enable the court to review the legal status of other related land allotments.

Shamilat means village common land, collectively owned by villagers for shared use like grazing cattle, growing grass, community infrastructure, or other public purposes, and generally not for private sale or individual profit.