Over time, the scheme was reportedly marred by alleged corruption, manipulation of revenue records, and illegal transfers of land, leading to significant public losses and political controversy.
[1] Bhalla accused several influential individuals, including politicians, bureaucrats, and police officers, of unlawfully occupying land in Jammu.
In 2014, three years after Bhalla's petition, Ankur Sharma, a law student from Kathua, filed a public interest litigation (PIL) before the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, challenging the legality of the Act.
[1] The Roshni Act sought to 'illuminate' the state's finances—derived from the term 'roshni,' meaning 'light' in Hindi and Urdu—by channeling the proceeds from land sales into public welfare projects.
The target was to raise an estimated ₹25,000 crore by regularizing unauthorized occupation of approximately 20.46 lakh kanals (over 1 million acres) of state land.
Over time, amendments were made to the Act, particularly in 2005 by the government led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, which significantly reduced the fee that illegal occupants had to pay.
[11] By 2007, the administration changed the scope of the Act to benefit a wider section of society, extending ownership rights even to commercial and agricultural landholders, as well as reducing the prices further.
[14] In 2014, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India indicated serious irregularities in the implementation of the Roshni Act, particularly pointing to the involvement of officials in facilitating illegal land transfers and causing significant losses to the public exchequer.
[11] The scam gained public attention and led to legal challenges in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, where petitions were filed seeking the cancellation of illegal land transfers and prosecution of those involved.
[15] In 2018, the Jammu and Kashmir government, under governor Satya Pal Malik, repealed the Roshni Act, stating that it had failed to meet its objectives and was being misused.
As the architect of the Roshni Act, Abdullah is accused of illegally constructing the Alishan Bungalow in Sunjuwan area on land owned by the Forest Department, with reported costs running into crores of rupees.
[19] To formalize his land ownership under the provisions of the Roshni Act, Abdullah was reportedly required to deposit one crore rupees into the government treasury.
[20] In October 2020, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court declared the Roshni Act "unconstitutional" calling it "illegal, unsustainable, and contrary to law."
[28] Baseer Ahmad Khan, an Indian civil servant and former divisional commissioner of Kashmir, has been accused of involvement in a multi-crore land scam dating back to 2009 with legal proceedings related to the case still pending.
[5] The government's decision to retrieve land affected individuals who had legally purchased property, raising concerns about potential displacement.
[32] The decision was made by a three-judge bench, consisting of Justices N. V. Ramana, Surya Kant, and Aniruddha Bose, during a hearing of multiple appeals challenging the High Court's directive for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the alleged scam.