SC Allows Sitaram Yechury To Visit Kashmir To Meet Party Colleague, Warns Against Using Visit For Political Purpose

A bench of the Supreme Court today (28 August) permitted Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury to travel to Jammu & Kashmir in order to enquire about the health and well being of fellow party leader Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, reports The Indian Express.

“If a citizen wants to visit a part of the country, he must have access to,” the bench noted. The court however told Yechury’s counsel Raju Ramachandran that the visit must be restricted to the stated purpose and should not be used for any political ends.

The court rejected Solicitor General Tushar Mehta’s line of reasoning that Tarigami was a person with Z category security and was not the type of person who may go missing.

Apart from Yechury, a Kashmiri student studying at Jamia Milia Islamia University has been allowed to visit his family back home at Anantnag.

Although communications restrictions remain largely in place across the Kashmir valley, government services, educational institutions and other facilities are being restored in a phased manner.