The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a public interest litigation that sought a direction to the central government to announce Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit as Lok Sabha seats, PTI reported. The bench also fined a former Research and Analysis Wing official for filing the petition.
The plea was heard by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. It called the plea “legally untenable” and fined former Research and Analysis Wing official Ram Kumar Yadav Rs 50,000.
The petition said that as many as 24 Assembly seats may be carved out by the government from the two areas as they were Indian territories under the occupation of Pakistan. “These are officially parts of India,” said Yadav’s lawyer. The petition said on the lines of Assembly seats, the Centre be directed to earmark two Lok Sabha seats in PoK and Gilgit.
“Is this a PIL?” asked Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose. “You are living in Delhi. What is your interest in PoK [Pakistan-occupied Kashmir]?” It further added that the bench was “not inclined to entertain this [plea]”.
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