High Court upholds District Court’s judgment on SJ Zangdopelri land case

Sep 27, 2019

The High Court Bench III upheld the Samdrup Jongkhar District Court’s judgement on the Zangdopelri land dispute case.

The Court has ordered Thinley Dorji, a resident to surrender 44,072 sq.ft of land along with the Zangdopelri and two double-storied buildings to the Samdrup Jongkhar Thromde.

The judgement also ordered the Thromde to compensate Nu 27.9 M to Thinley Dorji since he has been taking care of the properties and was also the main coordinator during the construction of the structures.

The judgement was passed on September 25. It says the disputed land did not belong to Thinley Dorji although he had earlier claimed that he has land ownership certificate and has been paying taxes. The court ruled that the certificate only reflects Thinley Dorji as a ‘care of’ and not as an owner.

Thinley Dorji, first filed a case against Samdrup Jongkhar Thromde in 2015 after he received a notification from the National Land Commission which directed him to hand over the land to Thromde. He was then given a month time to surrender by the Thromde.

Dissatisfied with the district court’s judgment, both parties appealed to High court in July 2018.

Kinley Wangchuk