Jammu Tawi, July 18: A Division Bench of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will hear a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the arms licence scam case on August 7.
Sources said the court comprising chief justice Arun Palli and justice Rajnesh Oswal has directed the registry to list the PIL titled Sheikh Mohd. Shafi and another v/s Union of India and Others on August 7 as the matter could not be considered earlier due to the paucity of time.
Senior AAG Mohsin Qadri and assisting Counsel Maha Majeed appearing for UT of J&K informed the bench that pursuant to order dated April 24, 2025, the General Administration Department (GAD) filed a comprehensive status report indicating the steps taken in accordance with the division bench through its detailed order passed on April 24, they said.
Advocate SS Ahmed with advocate Adnan Mushtaq Jaral appearing for the petitioners submitted that they have already received the copy of the status report filed by GAD.
The matter, they said, could not be considered by the division bench due to time constraint.
The CBI is investigating the arms licence scam ranging from 2012 to 2016 which was transferred to it by the government of J&K in the year 2018. The CBI registered two FIRs and in September, 2024, the division bench, headed by Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan (since retired), impleaded CBI as a respondent.
The CBI in its detailed status report said that from 2012 to 2016, various district magistrates in J&K issued 2.63 lakhs arms licences.
The government of J&K in March 2021 granted prosecution sanction against the officers allegedly involved in the scam. More than 15 charge sheets have been filed by the CBI in the matter in both the designated courts at Jammu and Srinagar.
