The Centre on Monday informed the Supreme Court that there were no official talks between Kashmiri leaders and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi over the situation prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir,
The Centre on Monday informed the Supreme Court that there were no official talks between Kashmiri leaders and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi over the situation prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir, following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.
Solicitor-general Ranjit Kumar told a three-judge bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, hearing a PIL filed by National Panthers Party, that the Opposition leaders were meeting the Prime Minister on their own and there were no official-level talks.
“The Opposition parties are going on their own and meeting the PM,” the S-G said when Bhim Singh, appearing for the petitioner, complained that his party was not being invited for talks. The CJI told Prof. Singh that the ongoing situation in the state was a problem relating to governance, which can’t be addressed by courts.
The CJI observed, “Please appreciate, there are certain dimensions of governance which can’t be addressed by courts. You (Bhim Singh) fortunately have a role here (court) and there (politics). So you please play a role there.” However, the senior counsel argued that “situation has gone out of control. There is no law and order in the state for the past 45 days. People are living under the shadow of guns. No arrests have been made. Government is not functioning”.
The CJI referred to news reports and said “some Kashmiri leaders are meeting the Prime Minister. You also join them.” When Mr. Singh said he was not part of the delegation, the CJI asked the SG to invite him for talks and the SG said he will convey this to the Union Home Secretary. The Bench then posted the matter for further hearing on August 26 and asked Prof. Singh to file his response to the status report filed by the Centre on August 5.
