Vaiko's plea to produce Farooq Abdullah before SC rejected

The Supreme Court on Monday (September 30) refused to entertain Rajya Sabha MP Vaiko’s plea seeking production of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah before it. The top court also said the MDMK leader can challenge the detention order under the Public Safety Act (PSA).

Abdullah, 83, has been under house arrest since August 5, after the union government scrapped special status to Jammu and Kashmir and split the state into two Union territories (J&K and Ladakh) Vaiko, who is an old friend of Abdullah, had petitioned the top court saying that the National Conference patriarch was detained illegally.

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“Abdullah is under detention under the PSA,” a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi told Vaiko’s counsel.

Vaiko’s counsel questioned the conduct of Jammu and Kashmir administration and claimed that few minutes before the scheduled hearing in the apex court on September 16, Abdullah was detained under the Jammu and Kashmir PSA.

The three judge bench said the petitioner can challenge the detention order against Abdullah under the Jammu and Kashmir PSA before the appropriate authority.

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Meanwhile, the top court has also moved all the pending matters challenging detention and imposition of a clampdown in Jammu and Kashmir from bench headed by CJI to a five-judge bench that will hear the pleas challenging Article 370 beginning tomorrow (October 1).

(With inputs from agencies)