India, Oct. 5 -- On a slope above Syedpora, the outline of concrete frames rises against the pines that run toward Dachigam.

Local residents point to the site as the place where a Mumbai businessman named Haris G. Chawla began work after buying roughly 15 kanals and 6 marlas of milkiyat land from 13 individual owners.

The sale deeds passed before the Sub-Registrar of East Srinagar in early 2025 and the revenue records updated in March of that year.

Chawla's representatives later approached the Block Development Officer of Harwan with a simple claim: the previous owners already held residential building permissions issued in 2023 by the elected Halqa Panchayat of Saidpora.

Those earlier permissions came under Section 12 of the Jammu...