The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to hear a petition by Panun Kashmir Trust, which had sought age relaxation in Group C and D Central government jobs for Kashmiri Pandits displaced from the Valley.

The case was taken up by a Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta, who made it clear that the issue was a matter of policy, not something for the Court to decide. "These are all policy decisions to be taken by the government," the judges remarked.

In its order, the Bench added, "We are not inclined to entertain the present petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. The writ petition is dismissed accordingly."

Lawyers representing the Trust argued that the displaced community deserved the same treatment as victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the 2002 Gujarat violence, both of whom were granted concessions in recruitment for similar government posts. "This is a petition by victims of Kashmir riots seeking some parity along with victims of anti-Sikh riots and…. If they (victims of anti-Sikh and Gujarat riots) were given some relaxation (why not us)," counsel submitted.

The Court, however, declined to issue directions and dismissed the matter.

Advocates Sudarshan Rajan, Nischay Chaudhary, Srishti Sharma, Mahesh Kumar, Ramesh Rawat, Hitain Bajaj, Sambhav Sharma, Ria Setiya and Ashutosh Gupta appeared for Panun Kashmir Trust.

This is not the first setback for such petitions. Back in September 2022, the Supreme Court had also refused to entertain a plea for a Special Investigation Team probe into the targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits and Sikhs in 1990, which triggered their mass exodus from the Valley.