SC seeks response from Centre, Delhi government on shifting 7 militants to Tihar Jail

New Delhi, Feb 22 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre and the Delhi government on a plea by the J&K government seeking the shifting of seven Pakistani terrorists from Jammu prison to Tihar Jail.The top court bench of Justice L. Nageswara Rao and Justice M.R. Shah sought the response from the Centre and the Delhi government as the J&K government sought the shifting of the seven Pakistani terrorists alleging that they were indoctrinating local prisoners.They, the Jammu and Kashmir government contended, are "radicalising and brainwashing local Kashmiri youth in prison and there is concentration of prisoners with similar backgrounds and links to terror organisations in local jails." The terrorists who are sought to be shifted include Waqas Manzoor, Zaffar Iqbal, Mohd. Abdullah, Zubair Talha Zarrar, Mohd. Ali Hussain and Haneef Vaveed Baloch.Seeking their shifting from Jammu prison to Tihar Jail, the state government said they pose a grave threat to national security and there are confidential intelligence inputs backing the existence of such threats to the country's security.It alleged that their involvement in planning and designing terror attacks can't be ruled out.The J&K government said that it was knocking on the doors of the top court as it alone, in exercise of its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, can transfer a criminal case from the jurisdiction of Jammu and Kashmir to Delhi.
--IANS pk/rs/bg