Apex court seeks details of Pak settlers in J&K

NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked Jammu and Kashmir government to file details on how many people from Pakistan who originally migrated from the state have applied for resettlement under the Jammu and Kashmir Resettlement Act 1982, and if the definition of descendents in the act can be read down.

Justice SK Kaul, one of the three members on the bench asked senior advocate Bhim Singh of the J&K-based Panthers Party, which had filed a petition against the Act, ““how many certificates have been issued by the state government and how many people have applied for the same?”

Singh told the court that the resettlement Act was a violation of the Citizenship Act and allows people born in Pakistan a chance to become citizens of the state thereby affecting its security.

The Act allows permit for resettlement of Pakistani nationals who had migrated to Pakistan from Jammu and Kashmir between 1947 and 1954 after India’s partition.

“Around 5 lakh people born in Pakistan would be able to come to India and this would affect the security of the country” argued Bhim Singh.

Singh also told the court that people who migrated to Pakistan could be considered for their return but their descendants could not.

“And the trouble lay with the definition of descendents in the act” he added.

When the court confronted the counsel for Jammu and Kashmir on the issue of descendents, senior advocate Rakesh Divedi, conceded the problem and said“the definition of descendents could be read down by the court

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has posted the matter for further hearing on January 22.

ADVOCATE BHIM SINGH SAYS THAT THE STATE RESETTLEMENT ACT WAS A VIOLATION OF THE CITIZENSHIP ACT AND ALLOWS PEOPLE BORN IN PAKISTAN TO BECOME CITIZENS OF THE STATE