82-year-old Soz fails to get early SC hearing against detention, but court issues notice to J&k

By Naz Asghar

June 8, 2020

New Delhi: Octogenerian Congress leader from Kashmir Saifuddin Soz on Friday failed to get early hearing in the Supreme Court on a petition against his ”unlawful” detention by the J&K administration since August five.

However, the apex court issued a notice to the Administration after hearing Senior Advocates P Chidambaram and Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who submitted that Soz has been kept under detention for over 10 months without properly communicating to him the grounds of detention.

A habeas Corpus against Soz’s house arrest filed by his wife, Mrs. Mumtazunnisa Soz, states: “ten months have passed since his first detention, and he is yet to be informed of his grounds of detention. All efforts by him to obtain a copy of the detention order(s) have been of no avail due to the illegal, arbitrary exercise of powers by the Respondent No. 2.”, reports LiveLaw.

The petition describes the detention as wholly contrary and perverse to the constitutional safeguards laid down under Article 21 and 22 of the Constitution of India, as well as the law on prevention detention. It is further in contravention of the statutory scheme of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 [“PSA Act”], under which the detention order has been purportedly passed.

The plea avers lea that there are glaring violations which surrounding the illegal detention of the detenu.

Soz’s lawyer wanted the matter to be taken up next week on an urgent basis, underscoring that his client was an 82-year old man. However, the SC refused to do so and listed the matter for the second week of July.

It was on August five last year that the Modi Government scrapped Article 370 that conferred special status on Jammu and Kashmir, and put several top political leaders of the state under detention, including Farooque Adullah, Umar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti. A large number of leaders, including the Abdullaa have since been released, but Ms Mufit, Soz and many others still continue  under detention.

–India News Stream