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The Supreme Court on Friday came down heavily on a petitioner who challenged Centre's move abrogating Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
Pulling up lawyer petitioner ML Sharma, the top court said: What kind of petition is this? It could have been dismissed but there are 5 other pleas with registry.
Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, said he spent 30 minutes reading the Sharma's petition but couldn't make out anything.
The top court was hearing the petitions posing legal challenges to the Centre's decision to scrap provisions of Article 370 which abrogated special status to Jammu and Kashmir and subsequent measures putting restrictions on the working of media in the region.
A special bench, comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S A Bobde and S A Nazeer, was hearing the petitions filed by advocate M L Sharma and Executive Editor, Kashmir Times, Anuradha Bhasin.
While the advocate has challenged the scrapping of provisions of Article 370 which has resulted in the creation of two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the journalist has sought directions for restoring of all modes of communication, including mobile Internet and landline services, throughout the state to provide an enabling environment for the media to practise its profession.
Sharma had filed the petition on August 6, a day after the Centre had abrogated the Jammu and Kashmir's special status. The advocate in his plea has claimed that the Presidential order on Article 370 was illegal since it was passed without the consent of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
In a separate petition filed on August 10, Bhasin said she is seeking a direction for the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to immediately relax all restrictions on freedom of movement of journalists and media personnel in Kashmir and some districts of Jammu.
The direction was sought to enable media personnel to practise their profession and exercise their right to report in furtherance of their rights under Articles 14, 19 (1) (a) and 19 (1) (g) and 21 of the Constitution as well as the right to know of the residents of the Kashmir Valley, the petition said.
In the petition, the editor said that since August 4, all connectivity was shutdown leaving Kashmir and some districts in Jammu completely isolated and cut-off from all possible modes of communication and information.
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