Srinagar: The J&K High Court Tuesday dismissed a petition from senior Awami National Conference leader and others seeking to lift all kinds of restraints and curbs from their residences, on the ground it was not maintainable
before court.
The petition filed on behalf of Muzaffar Ahmad Shah and Dr Mustafa Kamal had alleged that they had been kept under house arrest since August 5.
However, the state counsel denied the allegation and produced a copy of a communication from Senior Superintendent of Police claiming that the petitioners were not put under house arrest or under any curbs.
The court on hearing the state counsel was convinced that the petition was unnecessary. However, the counsel for the petitioners wanted to file a response to the communication in question.
In their affidavits, the three alleged detainees have stated that having been informed by their counsel of the stand taken by the respondents that they were not under house arrest, on 24.10.2019 they wanted to move out of
their house, but were stopped by a huge contingent of Police, SHO Kothi Bagh and few other officers at the gate. This, they state, was witnessed by two sitting MPs, namely, Justice (Retd.) Hasnain Masoodi and Mohammad Akbar
Lone, who, according to them, had come to meet them.
The court said, “As mentioned at the outset, this is a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, though it has wrongly been styled to be also under Article 32. In its extra ordinary writ jurisdiction under
Article 226 of the Constitution of India, a Writ Court is neither to hold an enquiry into the allegations made in a petition, nor take oral evidence.”
The court also remarked that in writ proceedings, a fact is to be supported and proved by authentic documentary evidence. Press cuttings cannot be relied upon as authentic documentary evidence. Further, a Writ Court cannot
hold enquiry into disputed facts. Once facts are disputed, the writ petition is rendered not maintainable. In such circumstances, the only option available to a Writ Court is to dismiss the writ petition, leaving the party
concerned free to take recourse to appropriate remedy.

NUSRAT SIDIQ