SC issues notice to Centre on Defence land encroachment

He submitted that Defence Ministry is the biggest landholder in the country with a holding of 17.31 lakh acres, out of which approximately 1.57 lakh acres are situated within the 62 notified Cantonments and about 15.96 lakh acres are outside these Cantonments.

“It is submitted that the prevalent mismanagement of defence lands has been the reason of several infamous land scams which have come into light recently, including Sukna land scam, Adarsh Society land Scam, Jammu & Kashmir land scam, Jodhpur land scam, Lohegaon, Pune land scam and Kandivli, Mumbai land scam.

“In most defence land scams unearthed over the past few years, Defence Estates officials have been found to be hand-in-glove with army officials and private developers,” the petition said.