A fresh crisis is brewing in Jammu and Kashmir. After New Delhi imposed a series of laws redefining permanent residents of and allowing non-locals to own lands in Jammu and Kashmir, the government has given way to fresh fears after it focussed its attention on beneficiaries of the now infamous Rohsni Act.

On 28 November 2018, the Roshni Act was repealed by Satya pal Malik, the then Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. On 9 October this year, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court declared the Rohsni Act as “unconstitutional, contrary to law and unsustainable”. On 31 October, three weeks after the High Court order, the Jammu and Kashmir administration said that it had initiated a process to retrieve within six months all lands regularised under the Rohsni act.

In our latest podcast, host, Sarwat Javaid speaks to Sharik Jan, an advocate about the Rohsni Act and the retrospective application of court judgments impacting the scheme’s legal beneficiaries as a precedent that could erode public faith in the system.