Restore normalcy in J&K

SC says restoration will be on a selective basis 

Asks J&K authorities to ensure people have access to welfare facilities  

India's Supreme Court yesterday asked the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir authorities to see that normalcy is restored on a selective basis in the state while keeping in mind national interest.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices SA Bobde and SA Nazeer asked authorities to restore normal life in the Valley and ensure people have access to welfare facilities.

The court said the restoration will be on a selective basis keeping in mind national interests.

The court asked the Centre to make all endeavours to restore normalcy in Kashmir as soon as possible and said that as the so-called shutdown is in the Valley itself, then it can be dealt with by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.

The court's directions came on a plea by Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of Kashmir Times seeking removal of communication restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir.

Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that not a single bullet has been fired and there are some localised restrictions in place, adding that restrictions have been lifted in over 88 per cent police stations in Kashmir division, reported PTI. 

Meanwhile, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday announced that National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be implemented in his state on the lines of Assam.

The announcement came days after Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das on Tuesday last pushed for the implementation of NRC in his state, reported Hindustan Times online.

Das said illegal Bangladeshi migrants were eating away the benefits of the state's legal Muslim residents and raised the pitch on a simmering political issue ahead of assembly elections due in Jharkhand along with Haryana and Maharashtra later this year.

"We will implement NRC in Haryana," Khattar said. He was talking to reporters in Panchkula after meeting Justice H S Bhalla (retd) and former Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba at their residences.