Post SC nod, Sitaram Yechury to travel to Srinagar tomorrow

New Delhi: After getting a green signal from the Supreme Court, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury will visit Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

While hearing the petition filed by the left leader, the Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed him to visit Jammu and Kashmir and meet his party colleague and former MLA, Yousuf Tarigami.

Tarigami has been detained by the authorities there in the wake of the Centre abrogating provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution.

"We will permit you to go, you are the general secretary of a party. Don't go for anything else" Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi told Yechury.

The nod to Yechury was conditional as Supreme Court barred him from making this meeting political.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, further said if Yechury indulges in any political activities, authorities were free to report him to the apex court.

The party said that Yechury will inform the authorities in J&K in the hope that at least this time they will facilitate the meeting.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader had made two attempts to visit Jammu and Kashmir this month -- once with Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja and another with a delegation of opposition party members.

Both the times, he had to return from the Srinagar airport on the orders of the Jammu and Kashmir administration that cited security issues as the reason for denying them entry.

Party further said Yechury will file an affidavit before the Supreme Court on his return.

"The Supreme Court has permitted me to go to Srinagar and see Com Yousuf Tarigami and "report" back to them on the condition of his health. Once I meet him, return and report to the Court, I will make a more detailed statement," Yechury tweeted.

The Supreme Court was hearing a slew of petitions questioning the validity of the Central Government's decision to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and abrogate Article370.

Supreme court also allowed another petitioner Mohammad Aleem Syed, a law student, to visit Jammu and Kashmir.

"The petitioner student Mohammad Aleem Sayeed shall be allowed to travel to Jammu and Kashmir and visit Anantnag and visit his parents and file an affidavit after his return," the court said.

The court further ordered the Jammu and Kashmir government to provide police protection to him.

In his petition, Delhi’s Jamia Millia University student said he was unable to travel to Srinagar and was not able to know his parents' condition.

The CJI has told the J&K administration “if a citizen wants to go to a part of the country, he must get access.”

The petition was filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, which says a person has the right to move the Supreme Court (and high courts also) for getting his fundamental rights protected.