New Delhi: The Supreme Court today asked the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir authorities to see that normalcy is restored on a selective basis in the state while keeping in mind national interest.
A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices S A Bobde and S A Nazeer asked authorities to restore normal life in the Valley and ensure people have access to welfare facilities
The court said the restoration will be on a selective basis keeping in mind national interests. The court asked the Centre to make all endeavours to restore normalcy in Kashmir as soon as possible and said that as the so-called shutdown is in the valley itself, then it can be dealt with by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
The court’s directions came on a plea by Anuradha Bhasin, Executive Editor of Kashmir Times seeking removal of communication restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir.
Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that not a single bullet has been fired and there are some localised restrictions in place, adding that restrictions have been lifted in over 88 per cent police stations in Kashmir division.
He told the bench that all Kashmir-based newspapers were running and the government had been offering all kinds of assistance.
He also said that TV channels like Doordarshan and others private ones along with FM networks are working in the State. The bench asked the Attorney General to put details of these steps taken on an affidavit.
| Apex Court agrees to entertain JKPC’s plea |
| The Supreme Court today agreed to entertain the petition filed by the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference (JKPC) challenging the President’s Rule imposed in the State and abrogation of provisions of Article 370, which gave special status to the state. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices S A Bobde and S A Nazeer tagged the petition filed by JKPC with those petitions which have been referred to a five-judge Constitution bench for examining the legal validity of the Presidential order on abrogation of Article 370 from the state. However, the bench declined to entertain other fresh petitions on the issue of scrapping of Article 370. “We are examining the validity of the legislative action,” the bench said while referring to several petitions which have been referred to the Constitution bench and fixed for hearing in first week of October. |