No minors detained after revocation of Article 370, J&K HC judges tell Supreme Court

Four judges of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court filed a report in the Supreme Court informing that no minor was detained or lodged in jails in the erstwhile state after the Centre revoked Article 370 and Article 35A that ended J&K's special status.

The judges, in the report, said that they visited all the jails in the newly-formed union territory. The report further mentions that allegations of minors and juveniles being detained by state authorities in the valley have been found to be wrong.

In September 2019, the then Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, heard a plea in which it was alleged that several minors had been detained in jails across J&K.

Earlier in August, in a habeas corpus petition, activist Enakshi Ganguly had alleged that several kids were detained by security personnel after the Centre announced the abrogation of Article 370 in J&K. "We have received the juvenile justice report. Will take a call after we read it," Justice NV Ramana had said. During a brief hearing, Ganguly submitted before the court that the children detained in the region were as young as nine years old. "They would need psychological help now," she had said.

The top court had then said that it will go through the latest judicial report on the alleged detention and fixed December 13 to further hear the matter. Justice Ramana asked senior advocate Raju Ramachandran and Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta to be ready for Friday's Constitution bench hearing in the main matter pertaining to abrogation of Article 370.