The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party on Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking to restrain the state government from acceding to the request from certain Pakistan-occupied Kashmir residents laying claim over property they had left behind, to restore the property to them.
Party chief and legislator Bhim Singh filed the petition before a Bench comprising Chief Justice R C Lahoti and Justice G P Mathur.
The petition sought to restrain the Jammu and Kashmir state from restoring to the PoK visitors -- who came by the first Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus on April 7 -- their properties declared evacuee properties under the J&K State Evacuees (Administration of Properties) Act.
The Bench fixed Monday for hearing on the petition.
Singh expressed apprehension that under the guise of confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan, the PoK visitors could seek the restoration of the evacuee property to them under the Act.
The visitors have been allowed to stay in the state on a temporary entry permit.
As a result of this liberty, the residents of the state who have been allotted evacuee properties, will be deprived of their right to enjoy their properties, including agricultural land, dwelling houses and commercial buildings, the JKNPP said.
There is apprehension that it can also lead to communal tension and de-stabilise the state already facing problems of militancy.
The petitioner also submitted that such a situation was considered earlier and the Supreme Court had stayed operation of the provisions of the J&K Grant of Permit for Resettlement in (or Permanent Return to) the State Act in 2002.
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