Dismissing plea, SC slaps fine on former RAW officer to carve constituencies from Pok, Gilgit Baltistan

New Delhi, July 1: Considering Gilgit Baltistan as an integral part of India and always standing by to protect the realms of the region, India has made its stand loud and clear. Taking action on the same, the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a direction to the Centre to earmark and declare Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit as parliamentary seats.

 

The PIL was registered by a former RAW official, Ram Kumar Yadav in the Supreme Court requesting it to issue a direction to the Central government to declare PoK and Gilgit as Lok Sabha seats. Dismissing the petition, the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi also fined the petitioner Rs 20,000, calling his "legally untenable".

In his plea, Yadav had argued that the government had carved out 24 Assembly seats from PoK and Gilgit, stating these are Indian territories but are currently occupied by Pakistan. He further said that similar to Assembly seats, the Centre should earmark two parliamentary seats in PoK and Gilgit, respectively.

Gilgit Baltistan is a part of Jammu and Kashmir annexed by Pakistan in 1947 but the status of the area though disputed has been kept ambiguous by Pakistan. Off lately, the people there have witnessed regular protests by activists over alleged human rights violations by the Pakistani authorities in the region.