India Tomorrow
New Delhi, August 16 | Supreme Court on Friday kept Kashmir Times executive editor Anuradha Bhasin’s petition against media clampdown in Jammu and Kashmir pending, by saying that a date will be fixed on the administrative side for the next hearing.
Bhasin had filed the petition seeking Supreme court’s intervention to restore communication lines and relax restrictions on media in J&K after the Central government ended the J&K’s special status on August 5 by removing certain provisions from Article 370 of the Constitution.
Advocate Vrinda Grover appearing for Anuradha Bhasin argued that the press cards should be respected by the authorities in Jammu and Kashmir as press is the fourth pillar of democracy.
She also demanded media should not be curbed.
“We would like to give it a little time. I have read in the papers that landline phones will be restored by evening”, Chief Justice of India(CJI) Ranjan Gogoi replied.
When petitions on Jammu and Kashmir came before CJI, he pulled up advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, for filing a shabby petition, challenging the Presidential Order of August 5 scrapping Art. 370
Then CJI asked the registrar as to how many petitions on J&K are defective?
CJI observed that people were filing defective petitions in a matter as serious as Jammu and Kashmir.
Attorney General K K Venugopal argued that Jammu and Kashmir curfew was being eased on a daily basis. “When Kashmir Times is published from Jammu, why not from Srinagar?” he asked
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta asked the bench to dismiss Ms. Bhasin’s petition. But Chief Justice didn’t respond to this demand.
CJI also told ML Sharma that he tried to read his petition for half an hour, but could not understand it.
