Jammu: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has registered a suo motu case over the bid to recover the body of a 20-year-old man from Pakistan after he was drowned in Chenab river on 11 June 2024.
A Bench of acting Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice Rajnesh Oswal issued notice to Union of India and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and granted one week to the Deputy Solicitor General of India Vishal Sharma to take instructions in the matter.
The Court decided to take suo motu cognizance after a public interest litigation (PIL) was moved in this regard. The next hearing of the case will be on July 29.
The Court dismissed the PIL but the parents of the youth also made submissions in the matter pursuant to which it decided to register a suo motu case the Court said.
The parents claimed that their son Harsh Nagotra drowned in the Chenab river under mysterious circumstances and his body was found in Pakistan. They requested the Court to pass directions to ensure that the body is returned from Pakistan for the conduct of last rites and other rituals.
It directed the registry of the Court to register the case under the cause title ‘Court on its own motion vs. Union of India and others' and proceeded to issue notice to the Union Home Ministry, External Affairs Ministry and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir The matter will be heard next on July 29.
It is pertinent to mention that the Body of a youth who had drowned Chenab river in Jammu on 11 June was recovered in Pakistan, following which his family has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to bring back the mortal remains for last rites. Harash Nagotra, a resident of Jourian area of Akhnoor, around 50 kilometres from Jammu district headquarters, went missing on June 11 and his motorcycle was recovered on the banks of the Chenab river.
