SC slaps cost of Rs 20,000 on former R&AW officer

New Delhi, July 1: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a PIL seeking a direction to the Centre to earmark and declare Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit as parliamentary seats.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on former RAW official Ram Kumar Yadav for filing the petition and termed it "legally untenable". The plea said as many as 24 Assembly seats have been carved out by the government from PoK and Gilgit as these territories are Indian territories which are under the occupation of Pakistan.

The petition said on the lines of Assembly seats, the central government be directed to earmark two Lok Sabha seats in PoK and Gilgit, respectively.