Submit fresh report on ‘illegal detention of minors’, SC tells J&K HC panel

The bench said it hoped the four-member committee would carry out the exercise “expeditiously”. The court will hear the matter next on December 3.

Appearing for the petitioners, Senior Advocate H Ahmadi contended that the apex court had on September 20 asked the committee “to undertake an exercise with regard to the facts stated in the writ petition”, but the committee’s report showed that such an exercise “was not undertaken” at all.

The bench said the committee may not have had enough time to examine some points elaborately as it had to file its report within a week. It took strong objection to the petitioners saying that the committee had abdicated its responsibility.

The court said its September 20 order reached the committee on September 23 and all the allegations in the petition were denied by the J&K DGP who filed a report on September 25.

“We don’t know the situation. The judges have to rely on the executive for information,” said Justice Ramana.

Ahmadi said the report only reflected information provided by the police which was bound to defend itself as respondent. He said many of the detentions as mentioned in the report were preventive and asked “how can there be preventive detention of children”.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said he had no objection to the committee re-examining the matter but the petition was instituted on the basis of a “falsehood” and the court should not keep it pending. He said the petitioners had initially told a bench led by the CJI that they had not moved the J&K High Court as it was difficult to access due to the shutdown. However, the report of the High Court’s Chief Justice stated that the court was fully functional and the assertion of the petitioners was false, Mehta argued. “Your lordships accepting the petition prima facie would mean accepting the contention that the HC is not functioning,” he said.

“Let the report come. We will decide what to do after that,” replied Justice Ramana.

Ahmadi said the Supreme Court has entertained many petitions related to human rights in the past and wondered why it could not hear this one which was more serious.

Justice Ramana pointed out that the committee was not a fact finding one but only to examine if the allegations of rights violations are true.

The committee in its earlier report said that 144 juveniles aged between 9 and 17 have been arrested, mostly in preventive detentions, since August 5. Of these, 142 had been released and only two were in juvenile homes, the report said.