Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi (File photo)

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court sought an immediate report from Jammu & Kashmir high court Chief Justice Geeta Mittal on two child right activists’ claim that litigants were facing difficulty in approaching the HC after the Centre’s August 5 decision to abrogate J&K’s special status.

A bench of CJI Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S A Bobde and S A Nazeer took exception to claim of child rights activists Enakshi Ganguly and Shanta Sinha, who had moved the SC seeking a direction to the state juvenile justice board, supervised by the HC, to take up cases of detention of all under-18-year-old boys in Jammu & Kashmir.

The bench suggested to their counsel Huzefa Ahmedi that since the activists wanted supervision by the HC, it would be appropriate for them to move the state HC. Ahmedi said, “It is difficult to access the HC in the present scenario.”

The allegation about restrictions in accessing the high court made the SC react sharply. “It is stated by senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, counsel for the petitioners, that access to the HC of J&K is seriously affected by the present situation in the state. We request the chief justice of the HC to submit a report on the above issue forthwith,” the bench said.

“You (the petitioners) have said something which is very serious. If required, I will go to J&K myself to find out,” the CJI said. “If people cannot approach the HC, it is a very serious thing,” he said. However, the CJI also warned Ganguly and Sinha that “if it (their allegation) turns out to be incorrect, we will fix accountability”.

