india

Updated: Nov 07, 2019 02:57 IST

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to apprise it on Thursday how many public transport vehicles like buses and trucks plied on roads after restrictions were imposed following the abrogation of Article 370 provisions.

The direction came when senior Congress leader and former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad alleged that public transport vehicles were not allowed to ply in J&K, which amounted to abrogation of fundamental rights like freedom to move freely and practise business. Farmers could not transport apples and ailing persons could not go to hospitals for treatment, he said.

“Is there a ban on public transportation? Are they not allowing any buses or trucks?” a three-judge bench headed by justice NV Ramana asked, adding, “Tomorrow morning, first thing you have to tell us, as to how many buses, public transport, trucks have plied in the past days.”

Senior advocate and Congress leader Kapil Sibal, appearing for Azad, said “We all support the government on the issue of terrorism, but the issue is, can the lives of seven million citizens be paralysed and their fundamental rights, instead of being restricted, be abrogated altogether?”

Cross-border terrorism has been going on since 1990s and the difficulty in finding the miscreants on the part of the state does not mean that the authorities will abrogate fundamental rights of all the citizens, Sibal said.

“Detain them (terrorists), arrest them. Cross-border terror did not start today. Anyone can cross the border. It cannot be reason for shutting down everything on August 5,” he said.

Azad had moved the top court in September seeking permission to visit Jammu and Kashmir to enquire about the wellbeing of his family members and natives of Kashmir valley.

Azad had said that he had thrice tried to visit the state on August 8, 20 and 24, but was sent back from the airport itself