SC stays J-K Migrants Act

The controversial Jammu and Kashmir Migrants’ Resettlement Act, allowing people who had gone to Pakistan after Partition to come back to the state and reclaim property, was today virtually rendered inoperative with the Supreme Court admitting a petition challenging it and ordering a stay on the operation of the law enacted in 1982.

The bench admitted a petition by Panthers Party chief Bhim Singh and ordered continuance of the interim order of February this year by which operation of the Act was stayed.

Singh contended the Act could become a ‘‘tool’’ for the entry of terrorists into J-K and threatened the unity and integrity of the country. ‘‘The Act can bring more than two lakh Pakistanis, including descendants of those who were born in Pakistan and many trained under the Taliban,” Singh said.