The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned nine prominent Gulmarg hoteliers, including Chairman of J&K Hoteliers Club, Mushtaq Ahmad Ganai alias Chaya, for money laundering. The ED officials did not give details regarding exact nature of allegations against these hoteliers saying the investigation has just started.
The summons for these hoteliers are about investigations into abuse of what is called Roshi Scheme of government land transfer to ordinary citizens. Thousands of kanals of government land was grabbed by powerful people using lacunae in the scheme. It needs to be mentioned here that the scheme was launched at a time when Dr Farooq Abdullah was the chief minister of the state.
The ostensible purpose and aim of the government alienating its ownership of land in favour of private owners was mobilisation of funds for setting up hydropower plants, and hence the name Roshni scheme. To provide electricity to citizens of Jammu & Kashmir. However, despite losing thousands of kanals of precious land, the government got only peanuts, not enough to do any improvements of the existing transmission and distribution network.
Directorate Proceedings Under PMLA Act
The hoteliers were summoned by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with an ongoing investigation linked to alleged irregularities in land transactions in Gulmarg under the erstwhile J&K Roshni Act. In effect, this so-called Roshni Act proved to be a massive ponzi scheme wherein the government was a heavy loser. Powerful private citizens, those with political influence, and those with money got government land worth crores by the payment of a few hundred, or a few thousand rupees.
Those summoned, besides Mushtaq Chaya, by the Directorate are Mushtaq Ahmad Burza and Manzoor Ahmad Burza of the ITC Group, Nazir Ahmad Mir of M&Co, Manzoor Ahmad Khan of Hotel Khalil Palace, Abdul Hamid Dar of Hotel Mama Palace, Syed Musadiq Shah of Pride Resort, Ibrahim Khan of Kolahoi Greens and Sadaf Shah of Hotel Alpine Ridge.
The hoteliers were directed to appear before the agency from June 15 onwards, with one hotelier scheduled to appear each day, and furnish financial and property-related documents, including records pertaining to applications filed under the erstwhile J&K Roshni Act. The first hotelier directed to appear before the ED officials on Monday was Mushtaq Chaya but he failed to do so.
The summons issued to the hoteliers under Sections 50(2) and 50(3) of the PMLA seek a range of documents, including details of bank accounts, movable and immovable assets, revenue records, lease deeds, income tax returns for the last five years and documents relating to applications filed under the erstwhile J&K Roshni Act.
“Every proceeding under sub-section (2) and sub-section (3) of Section 50 of the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of Section 229 and Section 267 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023),” the notice read.
“It is hereby informed that if you fail to attend to give evidence and/or produce records as mentioned in the Schedule at the place and time as specified in the said summon, you shall be liable to penal proceedings under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 (15 of 2003) and other relevant provisions of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023),” it further said.
Roshni Applications, Land Records Needed
Mushtaq Chaya, the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Mushtaq Group of Hotels, which operates luxury properties across India, including destinations like Jammu, Srinagar, Gulmarg, Pahalgam, and Delhi was to appear today. As stated earlier, he did not appear personally before the ED but sent all the relevant documents sought by the agency.
The documents are related to Roshni applications, land records and lease deeds, indicating that the summons are related to the controversial Gulmarg land transfers under the erstwhile Roshni scheme. Whether his lead is followed by the other eight hoteliers also, excusing themselves from personal appearance before ED officials, will become clear in a day or two. Whether the ED condones non-appearance of the hoteliers summoned by it or takes further steps to force personal appearance, is not known right now.
The case traces its origins to FIR No. 08/2009 of the then Vigilance Organisation Kashmir, now the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). In this case, a criminal conspiracy involving public servants and private beneficiaries in the vesting of ownership rights over prime state land in Gulmarg has been alleged. The alienation of government records was allegedly done by manipulating records and bypassing statutory procedures.
Revenue Officials Helped Private Persons
According to the chargesheet filed by the ACB before the court, the accused had hatched a criminal conspiracy to derive benefit by having transferred ownership rights in favour of the beneficiaries of the state land in Gulmarg in the year 2008. The accused officials allegedly abused their positions and the Lands (vesting of ownership to the occupants) Act 2001 or Roshni Act. Incidentally, the abuse, misuse and alienation of thousands of kanals of government land happened in this manner.
As per chargesheet in the case being investigated now, ownership rights of over around 35 kanals and six marlas of prime land in Gulmarg were conferred upon beneficiaries in violation of the provisions of the J&K State Lands (Vesting of Ownership Rights to the Occupants) Act, 2001. This abuse of the Roshni Act by collusion between government officials empowered to effect land transfers and private owners has now led to the present investigations.
The beneficiaries have now been summoned by the ED which is examining whether the alleged illegal transfer of prime land in Gulmarg generated illicit wealth and financial gains that may constitute proceeds of crime under the PMLA. On the face of it, the ED case looks like a difficult one as such cases of land alienation happened in all the 20 districts of the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu & Kashmir. Most cases made newspaper headlines but the accused, whether government officials or private beneficiaries, have gone scot free
