SC to hear plea for Governor's rule in Jammu and Kashmir

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear a plea seeking imposition of Governor's rule in Jammu and Kashmir, under a provision of J&K Constitution, due to the prevailing law and order situation in the state.
A bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur directed that the petition filed by Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) be listed next week.
The plea was mentioned before the bench by the counsel for JKNPP who said that Jammu and Kashmir has been "under siege of the security forces and the police for the past two weeks resulting in a total chaos, anarchy and disorder in the entire valley of Kashmir".

The counsel said that Governor's rule under section 92 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir should be imposed.
The petition sought a direction to the Governor to dissolve the Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir "which has failed to discharge its duties and functions".
The bench also comprising justices FML Kalifulla and A M Khanwilkar asked the petitioners why they did not approach the Jammu and Kashmir High Court for remedy.

The counsel said that the Jammu and Kashmir High Court "has been locked up" as well and they can't go anywhere else.
"The situation in Jammu and Kashmir has been chaotic and there is no public order in existence as such."

It said "there is literally rule of the gun and the people in the Valley have no access to even water or medical stores.
"The people in Jammu and Kashmir have been forced to stay inside their house and homes without food, medicines or other essential commodities needed for human survival," it alleged
The Centre, in its report, had said that in view of the
improved situation, curfew had been lifted from most parts of the Valley on July 30.
The Solicitor General, referring to the report, had said that curfew was in force only in certain areas of three districts in the Valley.

"Due to persistent efforts of the security forces/Jammu and Kashmir Police, the situation has shown remarkable improvement, with the number of incidents declining progressively since the outbreak of violent protests and clashes.
"Compared to 201 incidents on July 9, 2016, only 11 incidents were witnessed as on August 3, 2016," Kumar had said, adding that a total of 872 incidents of violence were reported mainly from south Kashmir and parts of central and north Kashmir.
He said that in these 872 incidents, 42 civilians and two security personnel were killed, while 2656 civilians and 3783 security personnel were injured.
Kumar said 28 government establishments were set ablaze and 49 such establishments were damaged. Due to the violent incidents, curfew was initially imposed in 10 districts out of 22 districts of the state.

He said the incidents of violence started after Wani and two other militants were killed by the security forces on July 8, leading to large-scale protests and law and order trouble in different parts of the Valley.
The apex court had earlier asked the Centre to file a status report detailing "ground realities" prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir after Wani's killing by security agencies.
Bhim Singh's petition had said that due to the use of pellet guns by the security forces, people were becoming blind and there was a shortage of medicines and medical facilities available to the citizens.
The plea had said that Governor's rule under section 92 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir should be imposed and had sought a direction to the Governor to dissolve the Assembly, claiming it "has failed to discharge its duties and functions".