Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Monday issued a notice to Ministry of Home Affairs on a petition challenging ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, Jammu and Kashmir.
Hearing petition filed by one Mehraj Azeem (61), a bench of Justice Tashi Rastan issued a notice to MHA and sought its response within two weeks.
The petitioner has challenged as “illegal and arbitrary order” the ban on the socio-religious and political organization. The petitioner said has called into question declaring JeI “unlawful association” with immediate effect without specifying the grounds as is mandated under Section 3(2) of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967;
“…(2) Every such notification shall specify the grounds on which it is issued and such other particulars as the Central government may consider necessary..”
“Grounds are not opinions or subsidiary evidence, they should comprise of facts which substantiate the notification, it should include particulars with regards to the dates of the offences, details of the FIR’s registered by the police or the details of the pending prosecution. Grounds as it has been marked in the case of Vakil Singh V/S State of J&K, 1974; “must contain the pith and substance of primary facts but not subsidiary facts or evidential details,” the petitioner said.
The decision to declare an association “unlawful” cannot be merely effected by the production of the notification that the grounds have to be spelt out, he said. “Free speech and right to form unions/associations is intrinsic to a democratic polity,” he said.
