Omar Abdullah's sister challenges in Supreme Court his continued detention under PSA
New Delhi/IBNS: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah's sister has filed a petition in the Supreme Court over the continued detention of his brother and National Conference (NC) leader under the Public Safety Act. She dubbed it as unconstitutional and challenged the same.
Congress leader and legal eagle Kapil Sabil on behalf of the petitioner Sara Abdullah Pilot has asked for an urgent hearing in the matter to which the apex court has agreed.
"The order conflates 'Governmental policy' with the 'Indian State', suggesting that any opposition to the former constitutes a threat to the latter. This is wholly antithetical to a democratic polity and undermines the Indian Constitution," the petition said as quoted in media.
"...a reference to all the public statements and messages posted by the detinue during the period up to his first detention would reveal that he kept calling for peace and co-operation - messages which in Gandhi's India cannot remotely affect public order," it added.
Former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, who are under arrest for the last six months since abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, have been charged under the Public Safety Act.
The Public Safety Act is a stringent law that allows detention without trial for up to three months.
Repealing Article 370 and 35A, the Union government bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories-Jammu and Kashmir with an assembly and Ladakh without an assembly.
Article 35A of the Indian Constitution had allowed the Jammu and Kashmir state's legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state and also provided special rights and privileges to those permanent residents.
Article 370 had allowed Jammu and Kashmir to have its own constitution, flag and right to handle its own laws except on matters that impact national security.
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