Supreme Court on Monday allowed Senior Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to visit his home state to enquire about the well being of the people. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S A Bobde and S Abdul Nazeer allowed the petition on assurance that he would not engage in any political activities. His Lawyer Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi submitted that he tried to visit the state after the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status but was sent back from the airport by authorities. In his petition before the top court, he has also sought permission to check on social conditions in the state after the clampdown imposed by the authorities in the aftermath of revocation of provisions of Article 370. I have filed the petition in my personal capacity, not on behalf of the Congress. It has nothing do with politics and is based purely on humanitarian grounds. I tried thrice to go to my home state but was refused permission. Almost one-third of Kashmiri people are lakhs who do labour to earn their daily livelihood and nobody is bothered to know how are they surviving. I have expressed concern about the plight of those people on humanitarian basis, being a native, and as a member of Parliament from Jammu and Kashmir. It has been 42 days…What are they eating, drinking and how are they surviving, this is a question to the state government, the central government and to the media as well,” he said.Several opposition leaders, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, had sought to visit Jammu and Kashmir, but were not allowed to do so and were sent back from the airport itself”, he said.
