Punjab and Haryana High Court: In a public interest litigation seeking declaration of the victims of the Pahalgam Attack as Martyrs/Shaheed and establishment of a memorial for them, the Division Bench of Sheel Nagu, CJ.*, and Sumeet Goel, J., rejected the petition, holding that the power to declare a place as a memorial, rename a place, or declare deceased persons as Martyrs/Shaheed is within the exclusive power of the Executive.
Background
The petitioner, a self-proclaimed public-spirited person, filed the petition seeking issuance of a writ of mandamus for:
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Categorisation of the persons who died in a terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir, on 22-04-2025 as “Martyrs/Shaheed”;
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Establishment of a memorial; and
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Naming the place where the incident occurred as “Shaheed Hindu Valley Tourist Place”.
Analysis
The Court held that the issue as to declaration of a particular place as a Memorial, or naming it differently, or declaration of deceased persons as Martyr/ Shaheed was within the exclusive domain of policy decision of the State. Holding this, the Court refrained from entering into the field of policy making, which was exclusively reserved for the Executive.
Accordingly, the Court left it for the petitioner to make an appropriate representation to the State, which, if done within 30 days, shall be considered and decided in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible.
Thus, the petition was disposed of.
[Ayush Ahuja v. Union of India, CWP PIL No. 99 of 2025, decided on 20-05-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the petitioner: Petitioner in person
For the respondent: Addl. Solicitor General of India Satya Pal Jain and Senior Panel Counsel Dheeraj Jain