In a new twist to the controversy over people from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir claiming their ancestral property in Jammu and Kashmir during a recent visit, the state government on Friday informed the Supreme Court that it has not received any application from the visitors till date.
The government informed a Bench comprising Chief Justice R C Lahoti, Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice G P Mathur that the visitors from PoK who came by the Karavan-e-Aman buses have not filed any application before the custodian of the evacuee property or the custodian general.
Thus, there was no question of the authorities entertaining any application, the advocate general of the state said, prompting the Bench to adjourn the matter saying there was no need to pass any interim order in the petition filed by the Jammu and Kashmir National Panther's Party.
The Bench on May 2 had reminded the state government about its order staying the operation of the Jammu and Kashmir Resettlement Act, allowing restidents from PoK to settle back in the state.
Giving a twist to the new bonhomie between India and Pakistan, the JKNPP had sought to restrain the state government from acceding to the request of certain visitors from PoK laying claim over the property their forefathers had left behind before migrating to PoK.
The properties, left behind by those who migrated to PoK and Pakistan after partition, were declared evacuee properties under the J&K State Evacuees (Administration of Properties) Act.
Earlier, explaining his support for the Resettlement Act, former chief minister Farooq Abdullah said at a panel discussion on Thursday that implementing the Act could in turn uphold India's stand that PoK is an integral part of India.
Training his guns on Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Abdullah had said the state government's decision to rehabilitate displaced Kashmiri Pandits to the valley beginning June would be 'suicidal' without assuring proper security for them.
"How can he (Sayeed) assure the security of the Pandits when even Muslims in the valley are falling prey to violence?" Abdullah asked, accusing the state government of unilaterally deciding on rehabilitation without consulting the Pandit community.
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