Need to promote youth of Kashmir by educating them, says Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday observed that it is essential to promote youth hailing from Kashmir by educating them, while observing that everybody makes mistakes in their youth.

Hearing a plea by the UT government challenging the Jammu and Kashmir High Court order, directing the Jammu and Kashmir Women's Development Corporation to release further loan instalments to Mubashir Ashraf Bhat, a bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Surya Kant said: "We need to promote the youth of Kashmir by educating them."

It added that if it were to set aside the high court order, then it would have a negative impact.

As advocate Taruna Prasad, the standing counsel for J&K, contended that the matter should be heard as there was a breach of trust, the bench said that Bhat might have committed a mistake, but it can be overlooked in this case.

There is a mistake on her part, "but we all have done mistakes in our youth", it said, adding that if the appeal were to be allowed, then it may result in cancellation of loan resources available for the Kashmiri youth as it declined to entertain the appeal.

Initially, the corporation released the first instalment of loan in favour of Bhat, however she was denied the subsequent instalment for changing her admission to Khwaja Yunus Ali Medical College, Bangladesh from the Community Based Medical College, Bangladesh without intimating the corporation.

A single-judge bench of the high court had ruled against Bhat, but a division bench ruled in her favour. The Union Territory challenged this order before the apex court.

The corporation had demanded the return of the first instalment of the loan issued to Bhat and declined to approve subsequent instalments. Bhat moved the high court challenging this decision, contending that she was forced to change her admission due to non-availability of seats in Community Based Medical College.