Supreme Court refuses plea for SIT probe into targetted killings of Kashmiri Pandits

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking SIT probe into the "targeted killings" of Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir in 1990, causing their exodus from the valley.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and C T Ravikumar said, "Why should we entertain this? This is purely the domain of the Union government. We are sorry."

The court, however, granted liberty to petitioner NGO 'We the Citizens, to make a representation to the UT and the central governments.

The petitioner NGO through advocate Barun Kumar Sinha, also sought a direction to declare all sale of properties, post exodus in the year January 1990, as null and void. The PIL also sought directions to the Union government and the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir to conduct a census of Hindus and Sikhs, who have been victims and survivors of genocide and are now residing in different parts of India.

The plea also prayed for a direction for the rehabilitation of those who migrated out of the valley and also sought SIT be formed to identify those who 'aided and abetted the genocide' of the Hindu and Sikh communities between 1989-2003.

The petitioner also cited a book, "Our Moon Has Blood Clots" by Rahul Pandita containing first-hand accounts atrocities against the Hindus and Sikhs. Their plea alleged it was genocide of more than one lakh Hindus in Kashmir.

Notably, a curative petition, filed by 'Roots in Kashmir', is also pending in the Supreme Court for a probe either by the CBI or National Investigation Agency into the alleged mass-murders and genocide of Kashmiri Pandits during 1989-90.

The plea alleged that the police and other state machinery, at the relevant time, were so influenced by the leadership of the ruling political parties that no legal action was taken against the perpetrators and masterminds of ''the religious killings and exodus''.

"The dastardly genocide and exodus of Kashmiri Hindus and Sikhs which happened in 1989-90 in the Kashmir valley is a glaring example of complete failure of Constitutional Machinery in preventing the genocide and protecting the life, property of the Kashmiri Hindu and Sikh in the Kashmir valley. Therefore, the Fundamental Rights guaranteed under Article 14, 19 & 21 of the Constitution of India were openly violated," the petition stated.