Srinagar: Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Saifuddin Soz on Thursday said he would sue the government for his “unlawful house arrest” since August 05 last year, when the Centre revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and termed the government’s response in the Supreme Court that he was not under detention as “falsehood”.
“I take a strong exception to the government stand before the Supreme Court that I had neither been put under house arrest nor had any restrictions been imposed on me since August 05, 2019,” Soz said in a statement here.
He said the government has resorted to “falsehood as it had unlawfully incarcerated me since August 05, 2019”.
“All this while, I was not allowed to move out of my premises. I left my premises twice, when I had to visit my ailing sister and I went to Delhi on 17th September, 2019 to 21st September, 2019 and 15th December, 2019 to 21st December, 2019 for seeking medical advice. Whenever I went out of my premises since August 05, 2019, I had to obtain permission from the government,” he said.
The former Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president added that he has decided to sue the government for his “unlawful” house arrest.
“I have decided to sue the government for my unlawful house arrest since August 05, 2019. I will further sue the government for compensation for the incarceration and illegal suspension of civil liberties to which I am entitled under the Constitution,” he said.
In an affidavit before the Supreme Court, the Jammu and Kashmir administration had said Soz was “never detained nor under house arrest” and there are “no restrictions on his movement subject to security clearance”.
The government’s affidavit came in response to a petition by Soz’s wife, seeking her husband’s release from “illegal detention” and to be brought before the court.
Rohit Kansal
@kansalrohit69
Mr. Saiffudin Soz former MP and Minister not under arrest or detention. He has been to Delhi twice – in October and December. Free to go wherever he likes with usual security drill. No question of lying in Hon SC @diprjk
