Mehbooba Mufti's daughter can meet her, rules SC

Asking the government to spell the objection it had in letting a daughter meet her mother, the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to meet her.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi allowed Iltija Javed to visit Srinagar, provided she first takes permission from the district authorities concerned on the issue of moving freely in the city.

She can meet Mehbooba Mufti in private on a date of her choice, it said.

Attorney General K.K. Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, had opposed the plea, saying that she must approach the District Magistrate first.

The bench said that it is her privilege to move this forum. "What is the objection in her going to meet her mother?" it asked.

Iltija Javed, who is presently in Chennai, had claimed that her mother is under detention ever since the abrogation of Article 370 which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

She said that she was deeply concerned about her mother's health as she has been under detention for nearly a month now.

She told the court that she was not allowed to move around in Srinagar and meet her mother in private.

The government had said if she approached the District Magistrate, she would be allowed to visit Mehbooba Mufti.

The court also asked the Centre's counsel that will they be standing in the way of a woman who wants to meet her mother, to which counsel said 'no'.

The counsel told the court that when she was in Srinagar last time, she was neither allowed to meet her mother nor move out of her house.

In her plea, filed through advocate Aakarsh Kamra, Iltija, 32, requested the top court to grant her permission to meet her mother in private for at least an hour every day in fulfilment of her right under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution, as she is extremely worried the health and well-being of her mother and apprehends a serious risk to her life.

She claimed that she is not affiliated to any political party and said that she wants to take care of her family and other affairs without any restrictions on her movements.

Holding that any detained person should not be deprived of his right to communicate with the outside world, particularly, her family and counsel, she said that she has been restrained unlawfully by not permitting her to meet her own mother for over a month now.

She also said that the government, through detention, was attempting to silence her dissenting voice.

She also mentioned in her plea that when the country was celebrating Independence Day on August 15, the people of Kashmir were "caged like animals and deprived of basic human rights", while her mother is deprived of her rights illegally despite being a law-abiding citizen.IANS