On Wednesday, the Apex Court disposed of a plea by the wife of Jammu & Kashmir Congress leader Saifuddin Soz alleging that he had been illegally detained, with the Govt submitting that he was never detained or put under house arrest.
A Bench of Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Vineet Saran and Justice M R Shah said it would not enter into the question any further.
In her petition, Soz’s wife Mumtazunnisa had said he had been detained since Aug 5 2019, when the special status of J&K was abrogated, & the grounds for his arrest had not been furnished till date. She said this amounted to “depriving the detenu of his fundamental right of making effective representation guaranteed” under the Constitution & laws.
Speaking to the news agency over the phone from his house in Srinagar, Soz, 83, said he had tried to leave even on Wednesday. “I am at the gate, I wanted to visit my daughter & I am not being allowed by the police,” he said. “They say they haven’t received any order (regarding letting him out). When will they receive the order?”
J&K High Court Bar Association chief Mian Abdul Qayoom, who has also been in detention for almost a year, is, meanwhile, set to walk free on Thursday, with the Union Territory administration assuring the Apex Court of the same.
On Wednesday, issuing the order in the Qayoom case, the Top Court had a word of advice for the people of Kashmir. “So many things happened there, which should not have happened… Hope people look towards the future & stop wandering in the past,” the Court said.
Appearing for Mumtazunnisa, Senior Lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi said though the J&K administration affidavit claims Soz is not illegally detained, this was contrary to facts.
Calling Soz a “categorised protectee”, the J&K administration said in its affidavit that Soz “never was under any detention” & that “no restriction whatsoever has been placed on (his) movement”.
Disposing of Soz’s wife’s appeal, Justice Shah drew Singhvi’s attention to paragraph 10 of the document submitted by the J&K administration. As per the paragraph, “it is submitted that none of the constitutional, fundamental or statutory rights of Prof. Saifuddin Soz have been violated or infringed”. It added that the claims “in respect of house arrest/detention of Prof Saifuddin Soz are false, frivolous & baseless as he has not been detained at all, let alone under provisions of Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978, as alleged”.
The Govt of J&K submitted that as “a categorised protectee”, Soz “is provided with round the clock armed guards & Personal Security Officers”. “Further, whenever he goes out for his personal, political or official assignments, he travels in Government Bullet Resistant vehicles with other Government vehicles”.
About measures after Article 370 was abrogated, the affidavit said Soz had been advised “not to visit vulnerable areas”. However, it said, the government provided him proper security cover “as & when… he conveyed his program for visit to (a) local area”.
On who could visit Soz, the administration said, “There is no restriction on any guests to (the) house, subject to proper checking… by the access control security deployed at his residence.”
The affidavit also submitted that Soz had travelled outside J&K “on several occasions”, listing three flights — on Oct 20, Dec 15, & Dec 20, 2019 — between Srinagar & New Delhi.
In her petition, Mumtazunnisa said Soz had been “placed under house arrest in an unlawful & manifestly illegal exercise of powers”. She said the copy of “the impugned order(s) of detention was not provided to the detenu within the statutory period, & even after that, for a period of ten months”.
Speaking to the news agency, Soz said the only official word he had received on his “detention” was what the group commander (of the security at his residence) had told him verbally on August 5 last year — “that I can’t go out & that I am under house arrest”. “When I asked for a copy of the order, he said these days everything is being done verbally.”
Soz said he had also talked to the SSP, Security. “He was clueless or he didn’t want to tell me. He asked me to talk to higher-ups. Now I am going to call (DGP) Dilbagh Singh.”
Soz said it was worse than being in jail as officially he was “a free person”. “At least in jail they will give you something in writing & you can go to court.”
The Qayoom matter came up before a Supreme Court Bench of Justices S K Kaul, Ajay Rastogi & Aniruddha Bose. On July 27, the court had asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the J&K administration, to inform whether the government was willing to release Qayoom, who is in his 70s, without any further delay if he was ready to abide by the condition that he will not go to Kashmir till August 7 & not make any statements till that date. The court suggested this after Mehta submitted that the Govt didn't intend to extend his detention beyond Aug 6, when it is set to expire.
On Wednesday, the Solicitor General told the Bench that it was agreeable to releasing Qayoom tomorrow. Welcoming the Govt stand & “Mehta’s efforts”, the Bench observed that this would ensure that Qayoom could “celebrate Eid with his family”.
One of the many leaders & activists detained in Kashmir ahead of the abrogation of Article 370 on Aug 5 2019, Qayoom was placed under the PSA 2 days later.
The Court had a word of advice for Qayoom, the Govt as well as the people of Kashmir. It said it hoped that the Bar association chief will adopt “a more constructive approach” & not make any statements as agreed upon till Aug 7. It hoped the Govt would consider bringing “complete normalcy” to Kashmir. On Kashmir, the court said it had “a fair idea about that place”. “We must say that Kashmir has been a troubled area. Nature has been kind to the place. It is time for all roads to be built to the future.”
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