SC allows CPI(M) leader to visit J&K to meet Yousuf Tarigami

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury to visit Jammu and Kashmir to meet his party colleague and former MLA Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, while brushing aside the Centre’s claim that it might “endanger the situation” in the state.
“Why do you have any difficulty if a citizen of this country wants to go there and meet his friend and party colleague?,” a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was opposing Yechury’s visit to the state. “If a citizen wants to go to a part of his country, he is entitled to go,” the bench, also comprising justices S A Bobde and S A Nazeer, said.
The court said this after Mehta said Yechury’s visit might affect the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the issue might become political.
“This may endanger the situation. The situation is becoming normal there,” Mehta told the bench, adding that the Left leader’s proposed visit to the state “appears to be political”.
The apex court made it clear that Yechury was allowed to visit Jammu and Kashmir to meet his party colleague only and if he was found to be “indulging in any other act of omission and commission, it will be construed to be a violation of this court order”. (PTI)