Srinagar: Senior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz on Monday claimed he continued to be under house detention, and that the main gate of his residence has now been locked from inside as well.
The former Union minister urged the country's judicial system to take notice of the situation.
I have already explained my position that I continue to be under house arrest. The Supreme Court was told by the Government on July 30 that I was a free man. I had categorically stated that the Government had made a false statement before the Supreme Court and outside too, he said in a statement here.
I had rebutted the false statement that very day and subsequently also, but the Government continued to spread the falsehood, rather unnecessarily, he said.
Soz said the policemen posted at his house have now locked the main gate from inside as well.
I saw a change having taken place today in respect of myself being under house-arrest and it was that the main gate of my house has now been locked from inside, also, he said.
Certain observers from outside the state have been asking as to why the Supreme Court allowed narration of lies in its courtroom. To that question, I can only say that the country's judicial system can take notice of all such situations, the Congress leader 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 asking for his release from "illegal detention" and for him to be brought to the court.
The senior Congress leader had said on July 31 he would sue the government for his "unlawful house arrest" since August 5 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 "falsehood".
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Lucknow (PTI): Denied a ticket from Pilibhit Lok Sabha seat, BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Thursday wrote an emotional letter to the people of his constituency in which he asserted that his relationship with them will remain intact till his last breath.
Sharing the letter on X, he said, his relationship with Pilibhit is one of love and trust which is far above any political calculations.
The BJP has fielded Uttar Pradesh Public Works Minister Jitin Prasada from Pilibhit replacing Gandhi, who has been vocal against his own government several times on the issue of inflation and unemployment.
Prasada had filed his nominations on this seat on Wednesday.
Recounting his association with the constituency, he said "Today, when I am writing this letter, countless memories have made me emotional. I remember that little three-year-old child who came to Pilibhit for the first time in 1983 holding the fingers of his mother. Little did he know that one day this land would become his work place and the people here would become his family".
"The ideals given by Pilibhit were instrumental in my upbringing and development not only as an MP but also as a person. Being your representative has been the greatest honour of my life and I have always raised my voice for your interests to the best of my ability," he said.
Varun Gandhi said his tenure as an MP may be coming to an end, but his relationship with Pilibhit can't end till his last breath.
"If not as an MP, then at least as a son, I am committed to serve you throughout my life and my doors will always remain open for you as before. I came into politics to raise the voice of the common man and today I seek your blessings to continue doing this work always. Even if I have to pay any cost for this," he added.
This is for the first time in over three decades that the mother-son duo of Maneka and Varun Gandhi will not be in the fray from the Pilibhit constituency which is located in the Terai belt bordering Nepal.
The denial of ticket to Varun Gandhi this time did not come as a surprise as he has been criticising the BJP on the issues of farmers, health and jobs.
After he was replaced by Prasada, reports did the rounds that Varun Gandhi might contest from the seat as an independent candidate. The suspense ended on Wednesday when he did not turn up before the nominations ended.
His mother Maneka Gandhi, the sitting MP from Sultanpur, was, however, given another chance from the same seat by the BJP.
The Pilibhit seat has remained with Maneka Gandhi or her son Varun Gandhi since 1996.
Maneka Gandhi won the seat on a Janata Dal ticket in 1989, lost in 1991 and won again in 1996. She won from the constituency in 1998 and 1999 as an Independent candidate. She won the seat in 2004 and 2014 as a BJP candidate.
Varun Gandhi won the seat in 2009 and 2019 as a BJP candidate.
प्रणाम पीलीभीत 🙏 pic.twitter.com/D6T3uDUU6o
— Varun Gandhi (@varungandhi80) March 28, 2024