[dropcap]S[/dropcap]UPREME Court on Thursday issued notice to the central government and the state of Jammu and Kashmir on a habeas corpus petition filed by Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury against the detention of his ailing party colleague Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami in Kashmir.
The court also ordered that Tarigami be shifted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi after consultations between doctors at Srinagar’s Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences and the AIIMS.
Both the Centre and State governments have been asked to file their replies within a week.
On August 28, 2019, the apex court had permitted Yechury to travel to Jammu and Kashmir to meet his party colleague Tarigami, to enquire about his wellbeing and health.
Subsequently, Yechury had visited Kashmir on August 29, 2019.
The affidavit filed by Yechurry put out the details of his visit and meeting with Tarigami. On reaching the house of Tarigami, on or about 12:30 pm, Yechurry met Tarigami who was very pleased and relieved to see him. For the first hour, the SSP, Imtiyaz was also sitting uninvited in the drawing room along with the petitioner and Tarigami although there was no need for him to be present there.
The petitioner, the affidavit says, inquired from SSP Imtiyaz the charges and the provisions of law under which Tarigami had been detained in his house. The officer told there were no legal charges against Tarigami and that he had not been detained and that he was free.
Tarigami thereafter indicated in the officer’s presence that the security vehicles of his Z+ security had been withdrawn, and that although no order of detention had been shown to him, his security was instructed not to allow him or his family members to move out of the house or allow any person from outside to enter the house for the last 25 days. “These instructions were being strictly followed and thus neither he nor his family members were allowed to go out of the house. Similarly, no one was allowed to enter the house to meet him. He and his family were in ‘de facto’ house arrest.”
According to the affidavit, Tarigami informed Yechury that he had his last regular visit to Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar (SKIMS) on July 31, 2019. In that medical visit, his doctors advised him to undergo certain follow-up investigations. However, he could not attend the hospital thereafter as he has been detained in his house from August 5, 2019. Upon repeated requests to the authorities, one cardiologist and endocrinologist were allowed to make a home visit on August 19, 2019 and suggested multiple investigations for the cardiac and diabetic status of Tarigami. Tarigami was however finally allowed to visit SKIMS only once on August 24, 2019, under security cover after multiple requests and follow ups to the authorities. However, on that date, the tests related to diabetic status could not be carried out due to non-availability of treating endocrinologist.
The affidavit also says Tarigami and his wife have both authorized the petitioner to continue the present Habeas Corpus petition and have further authorized him to request the Court to ensure that Tarigami is brought to AIIMS, New Delhi for his regular check up for a proper and thorough assessment of his multiple health conditions and diseases.
