The “Jammu & Kashmir resettlement law” was challenged and the Supreme Court is soon to hear it.
What is the law about?
It is the Jammu & Kashmir Grant of Permit for Resettlement in (or Permanent Return to) the State Act, 1982.
It was passed by the Assembly to provide for regulation of procedure for grant of permit for resettlement.
This is in terms of permanent residents and their descendants who had migrated to Pakistan between March 1, 1947 and May 14, 1954.
What was the objective?
Mass killing of Muslims in Jammu in 1947 and its ramifications are the main reason why the law was introduced.
As per historical references, more or less the entire Muslim population, amounting to half a million people, was displaced.
Muslims were said to have been systematically exterminated unless they escaped to Pakistan along the border.
It was done by the forces of the Dogra State headed by the Maharaja.
The State Government thus passed the Bill under the terms of Section 6 of the J&K Constitution.
This has a provision for those who were stuck in areas that became Pakistan in 1947.
Under the provision, these people can return under a resettlement law enacted by the state legislature.
The Indian Constitution’s Articles 5 and 7 too permit it.
There is a provision that those who migrated to Pakistan can return under a law of the legislature.
What is the controversy?
The Bill was introduced in March, 1980 by National Conference (NC) leader Abdul Rahim Rather and became law in October, 1982.
It pitted the NC government against the then Congress government at the Centre.
Both Houses of the state legislature passed the Bill in April 1982 but Governor B K Nehru returned it for reconsideration.
Amid the Congress’s opposition, the Bill was again passed by both Houses, and this time the Governor gave assent.
But then President Giani Zail Singh had already sent a presidential reference to the Supreme Court seeking its opinion on the law’s constitutional validity.
The case remained pending for almost two decades until November, 2001.
After this, a five-member Constitution Bench returned it unanswered.
Later, Jammu-based Panthers Party challenged the law in the SC.
Why was it challenged?
Panthers Party founder Bhim Singh, a lawyer, has represented the party challenge in the SC since 2002.
He highlighted a security threat the state would face if the Bill is cleared.
He noted that in Pakistan, it was mandatory for everybody to undergo two months’ military training before taking up any job.
So through this law, Jammu would be inviting trained Pakistani soldiers.
Apart from this, those people on return will reclaim property including agricultural land allotted to refugees from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
This is more likely to lead to law and order problems in the State.
