J&K HC disposes off PIL against Arundhati Roy

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Thursday disposed off a PIL seeking action against writer Arundhati Roy for her reported remarks advocating right of self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

The double bench headed by Chief Justice F M Ibrahim Khalif Ulla also directed the petitioners to approach police for criminal complaint.

“The court disposed off the petition thereby reserving our right to approach police (for criminal complaint) and in case police declines to intervene they may have right to approach criminal court,” Rohit Kapoor, who pleaded the case on the behalf of the petitioners, told reporters.

The PIL was filed by Veer Saraf, Ajay Bhat and Vijay Kashkari, all members of the Routes, an organisation of Kashmiri Pandits based in Jammu and Delhi.

At a panel discussion on Kashmir at the Asia Society in New York earlier this month, Ms. Roy had said that revoking the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from Jammu and Kashmir and demilitarisation are needed to ensure the right of self- determination to the people of the state and a country cannot call itself a democracy if people are forced to live under military rule.

“I want to say unambiguously that I do not think any country that calls itself a democracy has the right to force people to remain in it in a militaristic way, the way that India is doing in order to prove that it’s a secular country,” she had said.