J&K sensitive, govt must be given time: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday said that government needed to be given time to restore normalcy in the Jammu and Kashmir as situation was sensitive and refused to pass any order on a PIL seeking the restoration of communication lines including mobile phones, landlines, internet so that people could have access to emergency services including medical care.

“Nothing can be done overnight. It has to be ensured that everything comes to normal. There is no loss of life. Government is reviewing the situation every day. Let the situation improve”, said the bench of Justices Arun Mishra, M.R. Shah and Ajay Rastogi directing the further hearing of the matter after two weeks.

“No body knows the actual reality. Activists (PIL petitioner) may have the inputs. You have no source of information.  Government has to be believed”, the bench said making it clear that it would not step in at this stage.

The bench asked how long it would take to restore the normalcy, as Attorney General K.K. Venugopal said that government was reviewing the situation on daily basis describing the steps taken so far as “preventive”.

Describing the situation in the J&K as “dynamic”, Attorney General Venugopal recalled that in the aftermath of the death of terrorist Burhan Wani, 46 people lost their lives and it took couple of months to bring the situation under control.  

As the senior counsel Menaka Guruswamy wanted that all communication lines be made available to access at least the medical services, the court said, “Not even one percent chance can be taken. If something happens tomorrow who will be responsible.”

The lockdown was clamped on August 4, 2019, on the eve of the scrapping of the Article 370 and the government decision to bifurcate the State.