'What's your real motive': SC rejects petitioner who sought safety of tourists post Pahalgam attack

The Supreme Court of India dismissed a petition seeking security of tourists visiting remote areas of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday and reprimanded the lawyer who filed it, reported PTI.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL), filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, sought security for people visiting the remote areas of Jammu and Kashmir after the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, mostly tourists.

Track updates on Pahalgam terror attack here.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh dismissed the plea and scolded the lawyer for reportedly doing it for publicity with no public cause in mind. The bench also reprimanded him for not “understanding the sensitivity” of the matter.

"Why have you filed this kind of PIL? What is your real motive? Don't you understand the sensitivity of the issue? I think you are inviting some exemplary cost for filing this PIL," Justice Surya Kant said to the lawyer, according to PTI.

Also read: Pakistan test-fires 2nd missile as tensions with India mount over Pahalgam attack

Advocate Tiwari, however, defended his move and said that it was the first time tourists were targeted in Jammu and Kashmir and that is why he is seeking directions for their safety.

Not happy with Tiwari's reportedly incessant filing of PILs, the bench in its order said that the pleas did not have any real interest in public cause and were only meant for publicity.

"The petitioner is indulging in filing one after the other PIL in which the primary aim appears to be to get publicity with no real interest in the public cause," said the order.

Pahalgam attack

The petition comes after the devastating April 22 terror attack on tourists visiting Pahalgam's Baisaran meadow killed 26 people. Most of those killed were tourists along with a local. The attack, one of the deadliest on civilians in Kashmir valley in recent years, has ignited tensions between India and Pakistan. In response to the attack, India suspended the Indus Water Treaty and asked all Pakistani nationals to return to their home country.

With PTI inputs