How long can Mehbooba Mufti be kept in custody, SC asks Centre
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Jammu and Kashmir administration to respond to Iltija Mufti’s amended plea challenging the detention of her mother and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti under the J-K Public Safety Act, saying the detention could not be forever and “some via media” should be explored.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Jammu and Kashmir administration to respond to Iltija Mufti’s amended plea challenging the detention of her mother and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti under the J-K Public Safety Act, saying the detention could not be forever and “some via media” should be explored.
The apex court said Mehbooba’s daughter Iltija and her brother can meet their mother in detention. It heard her petition challenging the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister’s detention under the stringent PSA provisions.
“How long can Mehbooba Mufti be kept in custody”, the court asked the J&K administration.
Mehbooba Mufti, the chief of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been in detention for over a year after she was arrested on the eve of the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and its bifurcation into two Union Territories on August 5 last year.
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The top court gave two weeks’ time to the administration to give its stand on how long Mufti can be kept in custody and whether her custody can be extended beyond one year.
“What is the proposal of Jammu and Kashmir administration on her detention,” a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul asked the Centre.
In July, Mufti’s detention under the PSA was extended for another three months.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represents the government, asked judges not to make any observations and said Jammu and Kashmir has had a history of violence.
“The history of the state is wonderful, but prima facie you have exceeded the maximum period of detention,” Justice Kaul said.
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Iltija Mufti had approached the Supreme Court seeking her mother’s release. She also sought permission from the court for filing a habeas corpus, to produce Mehbooba Mufti in court. In her plea, Iltija says her mother’s detention is illegal and that the J&K administration is yet to file its reply to her earlier petition despite a notice.
The top court, during the hearing through video-conferencing, said whenever Iltija Mufti makes a request to meet her mother, the authorities should take a decision on it.
Former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, who had been under house arrest since August last year, have already been released.
