NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR, Sept 16 - The Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration were on Monday asked by the Supreme Court to restore normalcy in the Valley as early as possible even as former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, under preventive detention since August 5, was slapped with the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA).
As the apex court asked the authorities to keep in mind national interest while taking the necessary steps on a �selective basis�, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said he himself will visit Srinagar, if required, after terming as �very very serious� the allegation that people are finding it very difficult to approach the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. Normal life in Kashmir Valley remained affected on Monday for the 43rd consecutive day.
With the top court taking up multiple pleas on J-K, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, told the bench headed by Justice Gogoi that not a single bullet has been fired by security forces after August 5 when Article 370 that granted special status to J-K was revoked and the state bifurcated into two separate Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
In related developments, J-K Governor Satya Pal Malik met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi and is believed to have briefed him about the security situation in J-K. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also reviewed the situation amid reports that around 230 terrorists were waiting at terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to enter the country.
The J and K government as well as the Centre should make �every endeavour to restore the normalcy as early as possible�, a bench of the apex court said, adding the �restoration will be on a selective basis keeping in mind the national interest�.
The CJI-headed bench that comprised justices SA Bobde and SA Nazeer was also told by Attorney General KK Venugopal about the steps taken by authorities to restore normalcy. � PTI
