Mehbooba Mufti sends Rs 10 cr defamation notice to ex-J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik

Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supremo Mehbooba Mufti on Friday sent a defamation notice to former J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik seeking Rs 10 crore in damages for levelling defamatory allegations against her. This comes after a video shared by Mufti on Twitter in which Governor Malik is heard saying that the ex-J&K Chief Minister was the beneficiary of the Roshni Act.

The notice served by Anil Sethi on behalf of Mufti claimed that the allegations levelled by former J&K Governor Malik were 'false and incorrect'. "You have defamed my client and have levelled scandalous and serious allegations against her with the sole objective of tarnishing her otherwise politically neat and clean image. It is a fact that my client has never been beneficiary of State land under Roshni Act," it added.

In a video shared by Mehbooba, Malik, who is currently the governor of Meghalaya, is purportedly seen claiming that J&K National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mufti got land under the Roshni scheme.

What is Roshni Act?

The Roshni Scheme was brought in by the NC government led by Farooq Abdullah with the aim of granting proprietary rights to occupants of state land in lieu of charges that would be used for establishing hydropower plants in the erstwhile state.

Reportedly, hundreds of across of forest and erstwhile state's land in Jammu and Kashmir was illegally transferred to several influential people under the Jammu and Kashmir State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001, .i.e. Roshni Act. Last year, a division bench of the J&K High Court declared Roshni Act unconstitutional and directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the beneficiaries of the scheme. It also asked the government to share details of influential persons who received benefits under this law on a website.

BJP has accused Farooq Abdullah, former finance minister Haseeb Drabu, ex-Home Minister Sajjad Kitchloo and Congress leader Majeed Wani of being beneficiaries under the Roshni Act.