Police verification in J-K a 'collective punishment', will move SC to end this: JKPC

Srinagar, Nov 14: The Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference (JKPC) has said it will file a petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the current police verification system in Jammu and Kashmir.

The party argues that this system imposes a "collective punishment" on entire families, citing the recent "bulldozer judgment" from the Supreme Court as the basis for their plea, news agency KNS reported.

The "bulldozer judgment," in which the Supreme Court ruled that demolishing homes as retribution for one family member’s actions constitutes a form of collective punishment, has inspired the JKPC’s legal approach.

"Encouraged by the Bulldozer Judgement where the Supreme Court clearly ruled that it is a collective punishment against the family, PC will approach the Supreme Court with a plea that the system of Police Verification on J&K is a more chronic and serious case of collective punishment against the family," JKPC wrote on their official X-handle. "That in the name of national security, the law of natural justice is violated," it said.

In a separate post, JKPC Chief Sajad Lone stated: "In the highlighted para, the Supreme Court calls it collective punishment against the family. An adverse police verification certificate because a relative has an adverse police record is also a collective punishment against the family. Kashmir specific Stone Age justice."