SC seeks status report on Valley

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea for Governor's rule in Jammu and Kashmir due to the deteriorating law and order in the state, but sought a status report from the Centre on the ground realities in the trouble-torn valley.

The Bench of Chief Justice T. S. Thakur and Justices A Khanwilkar and D.Y.Chandrachud asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar to apprise the court about the ground situation. The bench was responding to a petition filed by the J&K National Panthers Party seeking the dissolution of the Assembly and imposition of Governor's rule.

The party pointed out that there is no remedy for the

situation in the Valley which has veered out of control as 50 persons, including 48 civilians and two policemen, have been killed since July 9, a day after the security forces gunned down Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burham Wani. The Chief Justice, who also hails from J&K, however, cautioned advocate Bhim Singh appearing for the Panthers Party that he should not to try to extract political mileage out of the court proceedings. "We will come down very heavily if we learn that you are extracting political mileage." Bhim Singh pleaded that Governor N N Vohra must intervene under section 92 of the J&K constitution in the interest of security, safety and fundamental rights of the Indian citizens residing in the Valley.