The Supreme Court on Thursday fixed pleas of the Kashmir Times Editor and others on alleged communication blockade in Jammu and Kashmir for hearing on September 16.
Anuradha Bhasin, Executive Editor of Kashmir Times , told a Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi that even after a month of scrapping of Article 370, journalists were not allowed to move freely in the State.
However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that editors of Kashmir Times chose not to publish their newspaper.
The Centre told the bench that a large number of newspapers were being published from Srinagar.
Senior lawyer Vrinda Grover, for Ms. Bhasin, demanded the government to produce the order or notification by which it had shut down mobile and Internet services.
“What are journalists and the media supposed to do here to report on Kashmir with freedom and fairness?” Ms. Grover argued in an impassioned manner.
She referred to an incident of how a doctor was detained for seeking better medical amenities. Mr. Mehta immediately countered that this was “factually incorrect”.
A lawyer from Jammu and Kashmir said the “people there are suffocating. There is no access to hospitals and no means of transportation”.
Mr. Venugopal said the claim about lack of access to hospitals was totally wrong.
“Seven lakh patients have accessed hospitals during this period. Major surgeries were held in 4,334 cases and minor surgeries were conducted on 44,236 patients,” Mr. Venugopal countered.
He said restrictions had been eased on a “step-by-step” basis and 80% of land lines had been restored.
The court issued notice to the government and asked the government to file its response in a week. It said all the petitions challenging the curfew and restrictions imposed in the Valley would be heard on September 16.
“We have fixed these petitions as early as possible on September 16. We have done the best we can... We may give some relief then, we don’t know...” Chief Justice Gogoi observed.
