IIT Graduate Fined ₹ 50,000 For His ‘Kashmir Solution’ Petition

A petitioner who sought to follow the Manmohan-Musharraf 4-point formula for settling the Kashmir crisis was fined 50,000 rupees by the Supreme Court on Friday.

An IIT-Bombay graduate named Prabhakar Venkatesh Deshpande filed a petition, emphasising that there cannot be a military solution to the issue. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli stated that they are not inclined to accept the petition.

Mr. Deshpande advocated for the allegedly workable “autonomy, joint control, demilitarisation, and porous borders” formula proposed by the former Indian prime minister and former president of Pakistan.

The bench stated that the petition appears to be more of a “Publicity Interest lawsuit” and that the court cannot intervene in matters of policy.

The bench announced at the outset that it is giving the petitioner’s attorney notice that it will charge him for taking up unnecessary court time with such applications.

The bench stated, “Of course, we will hear you, but we are putting you on notice that we will impose a fee.”

In support of the petitioner, attorney Arup Banerjee stated that despite 70 years of conflict with Pakistan over Kashmir, “two and a half wars” had been fought.

The Mussaraf-Manmohan Singh Accord may be put into effect to resolve the Kashmir issue, the petitioner begged in his appeal. “The petitioner asks to initiate the instant Public Interest Litigation,” he stated.

The bench, after hearing for a few minutes, said it is not inclined to entertain the petition and slapped a cost of ₹ 50,000 on the petitioner.

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