No norms violated in house construction says J&K Speaker, Nirmal Singh’s wife

Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker Nirmal Singh's wife, Mamata Singh, claimed that no rules were violated during the construction of their house in Nagrota area and asserted they had the requisite permissions.

We have not violated any rules and started the construction work only after getting permission from the concerned authorities, she said.

"It is private land in my name and the issue will be decided by the court," Mamata Singh told reporters at the sidelines of a function.

She was asked about the objection raised by the Army over the construction of their house at Nagrota adjacent to an Army ammunition depot. It is no secret and can be probed, she said.

"Please don't lend ear to the rumours. We are nationalist and can never say anything against Army. Visit the place and investigate on your own and you will come to know about the real position," she said.

Jammu and Kashmir Speaker Nirmal Singh landed into a controversy after the Army objected to the construction of his house adjacent to an ammunition depot along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.

The Army has demanded an immediate halt to the construction work citing security reasons.

Singh, who resigned as the deputy chief minister on April 30, had yesterday claimed he undertook the construction after fulfilling all legal requirements.

He said the matter pertained not just to his property, but also to thousands of acres belonging to villagers and farmers around the ammunition depot.

The Speaker said the dispute had gone to the court, which had not stayed the construction.

In a letter addressed to Singh on March 19, Commander of Army's 16 Corps Lt General Saranjeet Singh had raised an objection over the construction of the house adjacent to its Nagrota station.

"It has implications on the security of a major ammunition storage facility as well as the safety of personnel living in close vicinity of the ammunition depot," the letter said.
The J&K Assembly Speaker said he had started constructing the house on a 2,000 square metre plot last year.

The land was bought in 2000 by the Himgiri Infrastructure Development Private Limited, whose shareholders included present J&K Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta and BJP MP Jugal Kishore, he said.

Gupta, who took over from Singh in the recent cabinet reshuffle, however, said that he was no longer associated with the company.