Srinagar:
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has ordered the release of Aam Aadmi Party MLA Mehraj Malik and criticised the Union Territory’s administration for misusing the Public Safety Act as a shortcut to bypass criminal law.
Malik was arrested under this law in September last year after he had some heated argument with the district magistrate of Doda. The MLA was accused of using unparliamentary language against the DM and was subsequently charged under the stringent Public Safety Act. The DM had cited multiple FIRs against the MLA as grounds for his detention under the PSA.
The court termed the use of the PSA as unjustified and a violation of fundamental rights of the MLA who had to spend 299 days in jail. Under the PSA, a person can be jailed up to two years without trial or prosecution. Amnesty International has called the PSA a lawless law.
In the dossier, the district magistrate cited 18 FIRs against the MLA as grounds for his detention.
The court today said the cases filed against the MLA on charges of violation of code of conduct in elections or protests over the relocation of a health centre did not disturb the “even tempo of the life of the community.”
The court noted the petitioner’s argument that DM Harvinder Singh who issued the detention order was himself a party to the dispute. Malik’s dispute with the DM started after he opposed the relocation of a health centre at Kencha in Doda.
The court noted that the allegation against Malik abusing and disrespecting the district magistratThe Jammu and Kashmir High Court has ordered the release of Aam Aadmi Party MLA Mehraj Malik and criticised the Union Territory’s administration for misusing the Public Safety Act as a shortcut to bypass criminal law.
Malik was arrested under this law in September last year after he had some heated argument with the district magistrate of Doda. The MLA was accused of using unparliamentary language against the DM and was subsequently charged under the stringent Public Safety Act. The DM had cited multiple FIRs against the MLA as grounds for his detention under the PSA.
The court termed the use of the PSA as unjustified and a violation of fundamental rights of the MLA who had to spend 299 days in jail. Under the PSA, a person can be jailed up to two years without trial or prosecution. Amnesty International has called the PSA a lawless law.
In the dossier, the district magistrate cited 18 FIRs against the MLA as grounds for his detention.
The court today said the cases filed against the MLA on charges of violation of code of conduct in elections or protests over the relocation of a health centre did not disturb the “even tempo of the life of the community.”
The court noted the petitioner’s argument that DM Harvinder Singh who issued the detention order was himself a party to the dispute. Malik’s dispute with the DM started after he opposed the relocation of a health centre at Kencha in Doda.
The court noted that the allegation against Malik abusing and disrespecting the district magistrate through social media posts has raised reasonable suspicion about the impartiality of the detaining authority.
“If the ordinary law of the land can deal with a situation, recourse to a preventive detention law will be illegal,” the court said, citing the Supreme Court’s ruling in Rekha v. State of Tamil Nadu (2011).
The court observed that the respondents have chosen to keep the petitioner under preventive detention as a shortcut to avoid pursuing the criminal cases.
The court said that even as no MLA enjoys immunity from preventive detention if they indulge in unlawful activities, the court held that an elected representative’s protest, even if aggressive, does not automatically transmute into public disorder simply because the administration finds them inconvenient.
“Any annoyance or ill-will expressed by public servants against the petitioner, in his capacity as the concerned MLA, cannot amount to public disorder,” the bench said.
The arrest and subsequent detention of Malik had triggered massive protests in Doda. The government had to impose a curfew in the area to control the situation.e through social media posts has raised reasonable suspicion about the impartiality of the detaining authority.
“If the ordinary law of the land can deal with a situation, recourse to a preventive detention law will be illegal,” the court said, citing the Supreme Court’s ruling in Rekha v. State of Tamil Nadu (2011).
The court observed that the respondents have chosen to keep the petitioner under preventive detention as a shortcut to avoid pursuing the criminal cases.
The court said that even as no MLA enjoys immunity from preventive detention if they indulge in unlawful activities, the court held that an elected representative’s protest, even if aggressive, does not automatically transmute into public disorder simply because the administration finds them inconvenient.
“Any annoyance or ill-will expressed by public servants against the petitioner, in his capacity as the concerned MLA, cannot amount to public disorder,” the bench said.
The arrest and subsequent detention of Malik had triggered massive protests in Doda. The government had to impose a curfew in the area to control the situation.
Source link
#High #Court #Orders #Release #AAP #MLA #Detained #Public #Safety #Act
