New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India will hear a plea on Tuesday seeking the release of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who has been under detention since August 5, 2019, ever since the Government of India (GoI) stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its semi-autonomous status, revoked its statehood and split the erstwhile state into two Union Territories.
According to a report published by a Delhi based news agency ANI, the habeas corpus petition, filed by Mufti’s daughter Iltija, earlier this month challenges her mother’s detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA).
Currently, the former Chief Minister is lodged in her Gupkar home, which has been turned into a sub-jail, where she was shifted on April 27. Her daughter, Iltija submitted that the detention of her mother is based on “vague and slanderous ground demonstrating personal and political bias against her”.
The detention order, according to the report, contended that the detention order of February 5 against Mufti was founded upon a dossier prepared by the Superintendent of Police, Srinagar which itself was replete personal remarks against Mufti and in bad taste.
The petition stated; “the detention order is wholly based on the dossier which is slanderous, libellous and clearly demonstrative of the political and personal bias against the detenue (Mehbooba Mufti)”.
Mehbooba Mufti has been under detention since August 5, 2019, when the GoI nullified Article 370 and placed the Kashmir valley in a state of lockdown.
She had been in custody for six months and her detention was set to expire in February 2020 when a new detention order was issued on February 5 under the PSA which allows the administration to detain a person without trial for a maximum period of two years, the report added.
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