A petition seeking the collection of a $1 trillion debt supposedly owed by Pakistan to India was dismissed by the Delhi High Court. The bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla refused to intervene in the case, claiming that the plea involved matters of government policy.
Om Sehgal, a party in person, presented many papers to support his claim that India owes Pakistan roughly 300 crores in 'Pre-partition Debt.' He said that the total amount to be reimbursed, including interest, currently exceeds 1 trillion rupees.
Pakistan, on the other hand, is said to have not paid a single loan or interest instalment in any of the preceding 75 years. Despite this, India has not declared the loan to be non-performing.
As a result, he requested that the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Finance take prompt action to reclaim the funds that were allegedly used to "attack India."
"Pakistan is committing subversive activities in India, especially in Kashmir. This all is being done with money that belongs to India. That this realization of (our own) money, shall limit the resources of Pakistan and its terror brigade, to harm innocent people of India," Sehgal argued.
It was also maintained that it is the responsibility of the Indian government to recover the loan amount from Pakistan, with normal interest and penal interest, as applicable to any bona fide Indian and in accordance with State Bank of India/Reserve Bank of India banking rules and norms.
"There are over 100 pages including papers documenting the fact that Pakistan owes India about one trillion rupees. Irrespective of this, I know when files of pre-partition debt were misplaced from the Ministry of Finance. I have over 100 letters confirming my statement," he said.
The petitioner further submitted, "This money belongs to the people of India. Justice should prevail. Just after partition, around ₹ 20 crore was given by India to Pakistan and with that money they attacked Kashmir. Thousands of people were killed but our money is still with Pakistan. It has now come to around ₹ 1 trillion. In Pakistani currency it comes to ₹ 2.5 trillion…..........."
On the other hand, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma told the Court that the problem is one of government policy, and that a writ of mandamus is not appropriate in such instances.
The High Court stated that the Central Government is aware of the issue and that no instruction can be issued because it is a matter of state policy. As a result, the petition was dismissed.
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