PIL on PoK, Gilgit: SC rejects plea of RAW officer for waiver of Rs 50K fine

The Supreme Court Friday refused to waive a fine of Rs 50,000 imposed on a former RAW official for seeking a direction to the Centre to declare Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit as two Lok Sabha seats.

The apex court, on July 1, had imposed the fine on Ram Kumar Yadav, the former official of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), while trashing his PIL on the issue by terming it as "not tenable".

"Dismissed," a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Ashok Bhushan said the moment the lawyer got up to argue for seeking waiver of the fine.

"Is this a PIL? You are living in Delhi. What is your interest in PoK," the bench had asked Yadav.

The plea had referred to the fact that India has the ownership over PoK and Gilgit and there are as many as 24 assembly seats earmarked for these territories.

The counsel had urged that the Centre and other authorities be directed to declare PoK and Gilgit as parliamentary seats respectively.