Owners of several prized hotels in Gulmarg, who are apprehensive of losing their properties under a rule introduced by the lieutenant governor-led administration, have abandoned the legal route for redress, choosing instead to approach the elected government headed by Omar Abdullah.

Dozens of hotel owners in Gulmarg had moved the high court against the Jammu and Kashmir Land Grant Rules, 2022, which allow the auctioning of establishments with expired leases even to outsiders.

A bench of Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal, in a recent judgment, disposed of a batch of writ petitions, saying the petitioners wanted to approach the government to settle the dispute.

The new rule introduced by the LG’s administration in 2022 discontinued the practice of extending land leases after expiry. Properties built on land with an expired lease will be auctioned through open bidding in which non-locals can participate.

Many in Kashmir view the new rule as an attempt to dispossess Kashmiris to the advantage of outsiders.

Of the 59 hotels built on government land in Gulmarg, the leases of 55 have expired, leaving the proprietors at risk of eviction and auction.

After several hearings in the high court, senior lawyer Zaffar Ahmad Shah, appearing for the petitioners, requested permission to withdraw the petitions.

The hoteliers said they wanted to approach the government to resolve the dispute through representation instead of continuing the legal battle.

The government, through senior additional advocate-general Mohsin Qadri, informed the court that it was open to a “fair, reasonable and equitable” solution and assured it that any representation filed within two weeks would be duly considered after hearing the petitioners.

The court, taking note of the submissions, said there was no need to examine the merits and disposed of the petitions accordingly.

Several connected contempt petitions were also disposed of as infructuous, while some writ petitions were dismissed as withdrawn.

The high court, however, observed that considerable judicial time had already been spent on the matter and the proceedings would likely have concluded but for the changed stance of the parties.

“In the wake of the position sketched out above and in terms of the statement made by learned counsel for the respective parties, we are not required to delve any further into the merits. Accordingly, all these petitions are disposed of in the above terms,” the court order stated.

Last year, the Jammu and Kashmir government took control of the 137-year-old Nedous Hotel, one of Kashmir’s most significant tourist-cum-political landmarks, for operating without a valid lease.

The hotel was founded by Michael Adam Nedou, a hotelier from Dubrovnik, Croatia, and the great-great-grandfather of Omar.

Nedous’s son Micheal Henry had converted to Islam to marry Mir Jehan, a local Gujjar woman. Their daughter, Akbar Jahan, married Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.