The Supreme Court on Friday gave a firm command to the states and Union Territories to act tough on complaints from Kashmiris and other minorities who are feeling threatened or are facing acts of violence in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack.
Giving a clear directive to the Director Generals of Police (DGPs) and Chief Secretaries to take "prompt and necessary" action on receiving any such kind of complaints, a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna kept the issue pending for Wednesday to hear reports from states/UTs where such acts of violence were reported.
These states included Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra, Bihar, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Jammu & Kashmir. The incidents formed part of a PIL filed by a lawyer Tariq Adib who was represented by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves. He sought urgent directions as the series of threats and violence has not stopped.
Attorney General KK Venugopal, who appeared for the Centre, informed the court that the safety of Kashmiris, particularly students from the state studying in various institutions across the country, has been on the radar of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) since 2016.
He pointed out that nodal officers in each state/UT were given the responsiblity on June 15, 2018 to deal with any such incidents. Contact details of the said officers were given out as well. A-G Venugopal further informed the court that within 48 hours after the Pulwama attack, complaints poured in about threat, harassment, social boycott and coercion faced by Kashmiris. The MHA issued an advisory on February 16 to all states/UTs directing all possible steps to ensure their safety.
The CJI directed Centre and states to give wide publicity to the list of nodal officers who will cater to such complaints. The bench said, "We are of the view that the nodal officers constituted as per the order of the Centre on June 15, 2018 would act as nodal officers to take necessary steps and prevent acts of violence, discrimination, or acts of coercion faced by Kashmiris or other minorities after the terror attacks of February 14."
The nodal officers named are senior police officers in all states/UTs. In Maharashtra, Prabhat Kumar, Special Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) will be the nodal officer while in Delhi it will be Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Satish Golcha. The list, which is to be publicised, will carry the name, helpline number (if any), contact number (mobile and landline), fax number and email address of the concerned officers.
WHO TO CONTACT
- All states and UTs have named senior police officers as nodal officers.
- A list with their names, helpline number, contact number, and email IDs will be publicised soon.
