Srinagar, Sept 08: The Haq Insaaf Council, led by Advocate Zeshan Syed, has strongly condemned the detention of Jammu and Kashmir AAP chief and MLA Mehraj Malik under the Public Safety Act (PSA), terming it an arbitrary and undemocratic move.
In a media statement, the council said the PSA, a law originally meant to curb timber smuggling, has been repeatedly misused to silence political voices. It added that detaining a sitting legislator undermines the democratic will of the people and sets a “dangerous precedent” in Jammu and Kashmir.
The council pointed out that the detention order was issued by Doda Deputy Commissioner Harvinder Singh (IAS), against whom Malik had earlier raised allegations of favouritism and malpractice. “For an officer accused of misconduct by an elected representative to then invoke PSA against him raises serious concerns of vendetta, abuse of power, and erosion of constitutional morality,” the statement read.
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The council also criticized the administration for formally informing the Legislative Assembly of the detention, saying it reflected “the overriding authority of the bureaucracy over the elected house.”
Highlighting broader institutional lapses, the council noted that even ten months after the constitution of the current Assembly, the administration has failed to notify the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business. The absence of these rules, it said, has left the legislature “weak and unable to protect its members from arbitrary executive actions.”
The Haq Insaaf Council demanded immediate and unconditional revocation of Malik’s PSA detention, a high-level, impartial inquiry into the conduct of DC Doda, urgent framing of Assembly rules to strengthen democratic functioning and an end to the misuse of preventive detention laws in the region.
The council urged the Lieutenant Governor, Union Home Ministry, and the judiciary to take suo motu cognizance of the issue and intervene “to safeguard the Constitution and the sanctity of democratic institutions in Jammu and Kashmir.”
