JAMMU: Authorities have mandated that all landlords, property owners, and business leaders in Jammu must report details of their tenants, domestic helpers, and employees to local police within seven days, as announced by officials on Saturday.
District Magistrate Rakesh Minhas stated that this directive, issued on Friday under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), was prompted by a report from the Senior Superintendent of Police, Jammu, emphasizing the necessity for tenant verification.
This order is timed just ahead of the reopening of government offices, which had been closed in Srinagar since October 31 and are set to reopen on November 3, adhering to the traditional ‘Darbar Move’.
Under the new directive, property owners, contractors, and heads of commercial establishments are required to submit a declaration form containing tenant and worker details, signed by both the owner and the respective tenant/worker. This must be done either in person or via registered post to the appropriate Station House Officer (SHO).
Those who have already rented out properties or hired staff before the issuance of this order must submit the required information by November 6. Future engagements will also necessitate notifying the SHO within the specified seven-day timeframe.
The order stipulates that all police stations in the Jammu district will maintain a dedicated register for tracking tenant and employee verification records. It encompasses all aspects of hiring workers and letting or sub-letting properties to paying guests and tenants.
Non-compliance with this order will result in legal action under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The ‘Darbar Move’ system in Jammu and Kashmir entails that government offices operate from Srinagar during the summer months and relocate to Jammu in the winter.
This tradition has been reinstated by the Omar Abdullah government on October 16, after it had been previously abolished by the lieutenant governor’s administration in 2021.
