The Supreme Court on Wednesday closed a habeas corpus petition filed by the wife of former Union Minister Saifuddin Soz after the Jammu and Kashmir administration assured the court that he is neither in detention nor under house arrest.
Appearing before a Bench led by Justice Arun Mishra, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi and advocate Sunil Fernandes said the authorities cannot turn around now and say Mr. Soz was never in detention. Mr. Singhvi, appearing for Mumtazunnisa Soz, maintained that the former Minister was indeed detained.
However, the Bench chose to dispose of the habeas petition on the basis of an affidavit filed by the J&K administration denying that Mr. Soz was detained.
In fact, the administration said Mr. Soz could freely move around.
The habeas corpus plea had sought his whereabouts for the past 10 months.
It said Mr. Soz was detained since August 5, 2019 when Article 370 was abrogated and the State of Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
Mr. Singhvi has been arguing that Mr. Soz was denied the right to making a representation against the order(s) of detention, in flagrant abuse of constitutional guidelines, as well as the statutory scheme. By keeping the latter under a prolonged, indefinite detention, the authorities had indulged in the violation of his right to life and personal liberty.
