Omar Abdullah Detention Case: Supreme Court Judge Recuses Himself From Hearing Plea

Supreme Court judge Justice MM Shantanagoudar on Wednesday recused himself from hearing the plea filed by Sara Abdullah Pilot challenging detention of her brother and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah under the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act.

Pilot's plea came up for hearing before a three-judge Supreme Court bench comprising justices NV Ramana, Shantanagoudar and Sanjiv Khanna.

"I am not participating in this matter," Justice Shantanagoudar said at the outset.

The bench said the plea could be heard on Friday.

On Aug. 5, 2019, former J&K chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were put under house arrest ahead of the lockdown in the state that has now continued for over six months. Article 370 of the Constitution of India, which granted administrative autonomy to J&K, was scrapped by the Narendra Modi government on Aug. 4, 2019.