Srinagar, Aug 19: Taking cognizance of the stand taken by Union Territory (UT) administration in the High Court (HC) that no leader was under house detention, National Conference (NC) President Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday ‘invited its senior party leaders for meetings in batches of four.
A NC spokesperson said that ‘NC has taken cognizance of the stand taken by J&K administration in HC in the Habeas Corpus matters filed by Dr Farooq and Vice President Omar Abdullah of the party for securing the liberty of various NC leaders who have been under illegal detention’.
“On a perusal of the reply, the party has noticed that the government has unequivocally submitted before HC that no leader is under detention and they are free to move subject to necessary security arrangement,” he said.
He said now relying fully on the stand of the government before the HC that all members are free to move, Dr Abdullah has invited senior party leaders — including Ali Mohammad Sagar, Abdul Rahim Rather, Mohammad Shafi Uri and Nasir Aslam Wani — for a meeting at the residence on Thursday at 5 pm.
“The party is mindful of the present pandemic and accordingly the meeting with various leaders that have been under detention will be done in batches of four members per meeting. Needless to add all SOPs shall be strictly followed by all concerned,” he said.
“The party is hopeful that the liberty of the members under detention is now absolute and the meeting is held successfully on the appointed day,” he added.
Taking to micro-blogging site twitter, Omar Abdullah said, “The @JKNC_President has taken cognizance of the reply submitted by the J&K administration in the High Court. Since no leader is under detention as claimed by the government, Dr Abdullah has invited his colleagues for a meeting in batches of 4 keeping in mind COVID precautions.”
NC last month moved to the HC, seeking early release of 16 party members, who were allegedly kept under house arrest ‘illegally’ after their release from detention.
