Security of 3 Kashmiri leaders withdrawn

HC ORDER COMES AFTER THE THREE CLAIMED THAT WERE PUT UNDER HOUSE ARREST BY THEIR SECURITY PERSONNEL

SRINAGAR : Jammu and Kashmir high court has ordered the government to remove the security persons deputed outside the houses of Awami National Conference president Khalida Shah, her brother and National Conference leader Mustafa Kamaal and her son Muzaffar Shah.

The order came on Tuesday after conflicting claims by the government and the three appellants. The three had approached court alleging that they were put under house arrest by the security personnel outside their houses after abrogation of JK’s special status on August 5 while the government , quoting communications of police, claimed that they were ‘free’.

The suggestion of withdrawal of security had come from the court which was accepted by the lawyer of the trio after initial reluctance. “Although the suggestion for surrendering their security cover has been made by the court with a view to ensure that the liberty and free movement of the appellants is not curtailed, yet it would be open to the appellants to apply for such a security cover later,” said the division bench of Justice D S Thakur and Justice Sanjeev Kumar.

The court also asked the government to ensure that the liberty of the three leaders was not curtailed, except in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law. Commissioner secretary home department was asked to file an affidavit in this regard in its registry within a week for compliance.

Counsel of the trio Bashir Ahmad had produced some photographs depicting what they said a curtailment of their movement while government had come out with a communication of SSP to IG stating they were not under detention.

Earlier, a single judge had dismissed the trio’s claims that they were under house arrest prompting them to approach a division bench.