Kashmir issue can be resolved politically, not judicially, says Supreme Court

The ongoing trouble in Kashmir should be “dealt with politically” and everything cannot be managed within judicial parameters, Supreme Court said on Monday.

The apex court also asked the Solicitor General to help activist lawyer and Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) leader Bhim Singh to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.

“This issue has various dimensions and therefore should be dealt politically and moreover, everything cannot be managed within the judicial parameters,” a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur said.

The bench, which also comprised Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, referred to a meeting today between a delegation of the state’s opposition parties led by former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked Singh to join the delegation.

When the senior lawyer said the “RSS-dictated” government would not invite him, the court, which asked Solicitor General (SG) Ranjit Kumar to facilitate Singh’s meeting with Modi, was annoyed.
“Don’t make a political statement here. You tell us whether you want to go and meet the political leadership or not,” the bench said.

The SG said with regard to facilitating the meeting with the Prime Minister, he would “personally talk” to the Home Secretary.

In his plea, Singh, who sought various reliefs, also demanded imposition of Governor’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir.

The bench also asked Singh to file his response on the status report filed by the Centre on prevailing ground situation in the Valley.

At the outset, the Centre said the Jammu and Kashmir High Court was already seized of the matter and hence the plea, pending in the apex court, be disposed of.

The bench said the statements made by Bhim Singh may not be “relevant judicially” but they may be “relevant politically”.

Earlier, the Centre, in its status report filed in the court on August 5, had said that the law and order situation in the Valley has improved considerably with incidents of violent protests having gone down from 201 on July 9 to 11 on August 3.

The Valley has been witnessing a spate of violent protests following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.