The plea filed by Congress activist Tehseen Poonawalla was listed for hearing before a bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, M R Shah and Ajay Rastogi.
Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, informed the apex court "we have to ensure that law and order situation in J&K is maintained."
The Centre also referred to July 2016 agitation in Kashmir after encounter of terrorist Burhan Wani.
The bench said the present situation in J&K is "very sensitive" and it should be ensured that there is no loss of life there and said “reasonable time should be given to the government to ensure normalcy in J&K.”
The top court refused to pass immediate directions on a plea for lifting several restrictions including communication in J&K. The court further said it will wait for the return of normalcy in J&K and will take up the matter after 2 weeks.