After Supreme Court Nod, Sitaram Yechury Leaves For Jammu And Kashmir

The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Yechury to visit the state to meet Tarigami, who has been detained by the authorities there in the wake of the Centre abrogating provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded a special status to the state.

New Delhi: After getting a green signal from the Supreme Court, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday left for  Jammu and Kashmir to meet his party colleague and former MLA Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami. Yechury said he will do "whatever needs to be done" on the basis of his visit. The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Yechury to visit the state to meet Tarigami, who has been detained by the authorities there in the wake of the Centre abrogating provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded a special status to the state. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, however, directed Yechury to only meet Tarigami and not use the visit for any "political purpose". "I had filed a petition in SC for the production of Yusuf Tarigami. The court has now permitted me to visit Tarigami and report to the court on his health conditions and from there the case will proceed further. So the case is not closed as this is an interim order," Yechury told reporters. "Once I return, the case will go on further. I will try to meet Tarigami and with this order the authorities should facilitate my visit. I am proceeding tomorrow in accordance with the court's order. We will do whatever needs to be done on the basis of my visit," he said. Yechury said he will file an affidavit before the Supreme Court on his return. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader had attempted twice to visit Jammu and Kashmir this month -- once with Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja and another with a delegation of opposition party leaders. Both the times, Yechury was turned away from Srinagar airport. The CPI(M) had filed a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution, which says a person has the right to move the Supreme Court (and high courts also) for getting his fundamental rights protected.