Author: Press Trust of India
Publication: www.expressindia.com
Date: February 1, 2002
URL: http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=7068
Taking note of the cross-border
terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, the Supreme Court on Friday stayed implementation
of a controversial Act passed by the state providing for resettlement of
people migrated to Pakistan after Partition and threatening those who had
been allotted their properties.
Giving two weeks time to the state
government to file a reply, a Bench comprising Justice G.B. Pattanaik and
Justice S.N. Phukan granted stay on two writ petitions after senior advocate
K.K. Venugopal submitted that the Act would become a "tool" for entry of
terrorists in the state where over 50,000 people have fell victims to militant
activities.
Questioning the validity of the
J&K grant of permit for Resettlement Act, 1982, Venugopal said: "Prima
facie it is ultra vires of the constitution."
The petitions filed by Panther's
Party president Bhim Singh and another person, challenged the legislation
on the ground that its implementation threatened the unity and integrity
of the country as under this Act any person, who had migrated to Pakistan
could claim legal right to settle in Kashmir.
The Act, which has been in limbo
since its enactment in 1982, became a centre of controversy as the J&K
government on November 6 last year decided to implement it. The state took
the decision after a five-judge Constitution Bench of the apex court returned
a Presidential reference on the Act unanswered.
"The implementation of the Act can
bring more than two lakh Pakistanis including descendants of those who
were born in that country and many of them trained under Taliban," the
Panthars Party contended.
