Apex court junks plea against Centre funds for J&K separatists

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday junked a public interest petition that sought to stop Central funds and security provided to separatist leaders in J&K,

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday junked a public interest petition that sought to stop Central funds and security provided to separatist leaders in J&K, stating that such demands cannot be entertained by judiciary as they are within in the exclusive domain of the executive.

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“A government is responsible to maintain unity of this country and can take whatever decisions it wants in the nation’s interest,” a bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice UU Lalit told the petitioner, advocate ML Sharma, and snubbed him for insisting the court to use the word “separatist” in its order.

“No we will not use this word. It’s your perception,” the bench said. Sharma said the funds given to alleged separatists were not cleared by Parliament. But, the SC rejected his submission. “Government may in its wisdom grant security to someone who has threat,” the bench said.

The PIL filed on September 8 said that more than Rs 100 crore is spent on separatists by the government. The separatists, it alleged, misused the money for anti-India activities. The bench however, said: “Please don’t call anybody by that name, unless the person is convicted. Judiciary cannot examine what funds are given to who.”