Submit orders under which restrictions were imposed in J&K: SC to centre

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the central government to submit any orders it had issued under which a communication lockdown and other restrictions were imposed in J&K. If the government cannot provide the orders to the court, it must explain the reasons.

A three-judge bench led by Justice NV Ramana asked solicitor-general Tushar Mehta to file an affidavit on this. The order came on a petition filed by Anuradha Bhasin, the Kashmir Times executive editor who claimed that the lockdown had crippled the media in J&K. Her case was argued by activist lawyer Vrinda Grover.

Mehta said he would only submit the information to the court and not to the petitioners. Justices Subhash Reddy and BR Gavai were the other judges on the bench. The top court also sought details of some detention orders which have been challenged in the court. A slew of petitions had challenged the communication lockdown and its effect on the residents of the state.


The court asked the government to examine ways and means to ease the monetary burden of phone bills on a populace which was under lockdown for over two months. Post-paid connections were restored in the state two days ago.

But Internet hasn’t been restored. SMS services were also blocked after the postpaid connections were restored.