Srinagar
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has urged the Supreme Court to frame norms to ensure that J&K-type lockdown does not occur again in the future, The Economic Times reported.
“The lives of seven million people have been destroyed,” Kapil Sibal, who is representing Azad, told a bench led by Justice NV Ramana on Thursday.
“This court must lay down principles to ensure that this is never repeated,” The Economic Times quoted Sabal as saying. He argued that terrorism has been there for the last 20 years and therefore it cannot be a reason to deny fundamental rights to an entire state, he said. The court cannot decide fundamental rights of citizens on the touchstone of state interest alone, he said.
Any restrictions on fundamental rights must be reasonable and not shockingly disproportionate as in this case, he said. The state has been under a communication lockdown since August 4 when it was stripped of its special status and separated into two Union territories, The Economic Times reported.
