Chandigarh, May 21 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking martyr status for those, who died in the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

"The issue as to whether a particular place is to be declared as a memorial or be named differently or martyr/shaheed, lies within the exclusive domain of policy decision of the State," the bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Sumeet Goel said while dismissing the PIL filed on May 6.

The plea had also sought a declaration to rename the attack site as "Memorable Martyrs/Shaheed Hindu Valley Tourist Place" to honour the memory of the slain tourists and "embed their sacrifice in national consciousness".

The petition was filed by an advocate, Ayush Ahuja, and was ...