NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Wednesday refused to entertain a plea filed by an NGO, Campus Front of India (CFI), seeking monetary relief for the students of Jammu and Kashmir who have faced problems due to restrictions imposed in the erstwhile state post abrogation of Article 370.
The Centre opposed the CFI petition saying that the NGO is associated with Popular Front of India (PFI), which is an organisation having relation with banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
A bench of Justices N V Ramana, R Subhash Reddy and B R Gavai said, “Sorry, we are not inclined to entertain this petition.”
Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the CFI, said that the Kashmiri students were not able to pay their fees in their respective schools and colleges across the country due to curbs on banking system imposed by the Centre.
“The students of Jammu and Kashmir have suffered due to the restrictions imposed by the Centre. These students who are studying in different parts of the country needs to be provided monetary relief,” she said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, opposed the petition saying that the banking system in Jammu and Kashmir was never shut and even on August 5, it was working.
He said that contrary to the claims made by the NGO, students whose cause is being espoused have regularly deposited and paid their fees through the banking channels.
“They did not face any hardship. This NGO has to explain as whose it espousing. There are material suggesting that it is associated with PFI, which has relations with banned extremist group like SIMI”, he said.
When Mehta tried to submit some documents to the court to buttress his claim of CFI’s association with PFI, Arora opposed and said that this practice is being frequently adopted by the Centre and if the documents are being relied upon then it should be shared with them also.
The bench then refused to peruse the documents submitted Mehta and returned it back.
Mehta said that their are enough material to suggest that this NGO CFI is being promoted and guided by the PFI.
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