Pahalgam attack: Supreme Court dismisses PIL for safety of tourists, rebukes petitioner

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a PIL seeking safety of tourists in remote hilly areas of Jammu and Kashmir in view of the recent Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people lost their lives.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh pulled up advocate Vishal Tiwari for filing the PIL and said it is only meant for publicity without any public cause.

"Why have you filed this kind of PIL? What is your real motive? Don't you understand the sensitivity of the issue? I think you are inviting some exemplary cost for filing this PIL," Justice Surya Kant told Tiwari.

The petitioner lawyer said this was the first time that tourists in Jammu and Kashmir were targeted, and hence, he was seeking directions for their safety.

The bench, in its order, said, "The petitioner is indulging in filing one after the other PIL in which the primary aim appears to be to get publicity with no real interest in the public cause." Terrorists on April 22 opened fire in Baisaran, a popular tourist spot in the upper reaches of Pahalgam in Anantnag district, killing 26 people, mostly tourists from other states.

The incident spiked India-Pakistan tensions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting the killers would be pursued "to the ends of the earth."