Satya Prakash

The state government told the Supreme Court on Monday that it has not received any application under the J&K Resettlement Act, 1982, which allows grant of resettlement permit to Pakistani nationals who migrated to that country from the state between 1947 and 1954 after India’s Partition.

“The ‘competent authority’ envisaged under Section 2(a) of the J&K Grant of Permit for Resettlement (or Permanent Return to) the State Act, 1982, was never notified by the government. As such, no application was received,” the state government said in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court.

“Upon perusal of records, it was found that no applications have ever been received under the Act even by the Custodian of Evacuee Property, Jammu and Kashmir,” the affidavit further read.

The Supreme Court, which is seized of a PIL filed by the J&K National Panthers Party against the Act in 2001, had ordered a stay on the operation of the law. Last month, it had asked the state government to furnish details of the number of applications received from original migrants from Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan expressing their intent to resettle in India. It’s likely to take up the matter on Tuesday.

“How can descendants of those who moved to Pakistan during Partition be allowed to return under the J&K Resettlement Act?” a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had asked on December 13 during the hearing the petition.

Pointing out that an 18-year-old who migrated to Pakistan in 1947 would be 90 years old now, the bench had wondered whether the state would allow such a person’s children and grandchildren and their spouses — born in Pakistan and having Pakistani citizenship — to settle in Jammu and Kashmir.

“If the Act is put into operation, the grandchildren of those who migrated to Pakistan in 1947 can now come with their families and settle in Jammu and Kashmir. How do you include his/her children? This will amount to allowing someone other than those who migrated to Pakistan to settle in the state,” it had said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had supported the PIL, saying permitting resettlement of descendants of those who migrated to Pakistan in 1947 from the state was fraught with serious security implications and would go against the Citizenship Act.

On December 7, the matter couldn’t be taken up after the top court permitted state government counsel M Shoeb Alam to circulate a letter for adjournment of the case.

The Panthers Party has maintained that people of Jammu and Kashmir who migrated to Pakistan in 1947 could be considered for their return but not their descendants. The party had said the law was draconian, unconstitutional and improper which threatened the security of the state

Courtesy:The Tribune,Jan08,2019