The Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra on Tuesday, August 13, refused to pass an order on the Kashmir lockdown and said that the Central government required time to bring back normalcy in the Valley as nothing can be done overnight.
The top court made the observation when the Centre informed the court that it was doing everything necessary to maintain law and order in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Thus, the court deferred after two weeks the hearing on the plea.
The petition was filed by Congress leader Tehseen Poonawalla, challenging the Centre's decision to impose restrictions and "other regressive measures" in Jammu and Kashmir following the scrapping of the provisions of Article 370.
Stressing on the fact that it was a "serious issue", the apex court said that it would not interfere right now in the situation and let the Narendra Modi-led BJP government continue with its efforts to maintain law and order in the Kashmir Valley.
The Central government has reportedly assured the court saying that normalcy would be restored in Kashmir in a few days. The Centre had referred to the July 2016 agitation in the Kashmir Valley after the encounter of terrorist Burhan Wani when 47 persons were killed but this time not a single person had died.
The Advocate General, who was representing the Centre, also informed the court that the government is monitoring the situation in the Valley on a day-to-day basis and were committed to ensuring the least human rights violations.
Last week, the government moved to abrogate provisions of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcation of the state into two union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
More than 500 political workers and leaders have been detained across the Valley. However, it is not yet clear whether arrested leaders, including former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, will be released or not.
