Hold talks to resolve the impasse in Kashmir, SC tells govt
SC bench was hearing an appeal filed by the Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association questioning the legality of using pellet guns in the state
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday, in an observation, asked the Centre to hold talks to resolve the impasse in Kashmir.
“Get us names of people who can hold talks with the centre," a bench headed by chief justice J.S. Khehar told the Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association in an oral observation.
The bench, also including justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, was hearing an appeal filed by the Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association questioning the legality of using pellet guns in the state.
“We will ask the police and army not to use pellet guns for a couple of weeks if it is assured that there will be no stone pelting," the court observed orally.
The government’s top law officer attorney general Mukul Rohatgi however said that “the government would come to the negotiating table only if the recognised parties participate in the dialogue and not the separatist elements."
In an earlier hearing, the centre had defended the use of pellet guns but also informed the court that it is considering use of alternatives.
The centre had also placed before the court an October 2016 report by the ministry of home affairs on alternatives to pellet guns but asked the court to not accept the copies on record as the report might fall into undesirable hands.
The case will be heard next on 9 May.
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