Mehbooba Mufti files petition for immediate transfer of all Kashmiri prisoners to IIOJK jails
Srinagar: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti has filed a petition in the High Court of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), seeking the immediate transfer of all Kashmiri prisoners currently held outside the territory to local jails.
According to Kashmir Media Service, in her plea, Mufti demands that undertrials be brought back to IIOJK unless authorities provide compelling, case-specific reasons for keeping them in prisons outside the territory. She also calls for quarterly judicial reviews of such cases.
Mufti’s petition reads: “Despite repeated appeals to the government, no action has been taken regarding the return of undertrial prisoners. As a result, I have filed this petition in public interest.”
The plea, filed under Article 226 of the Indian Constitution, requests the court to intervene and issue and order, directing the Indian government, the IIOJK home department, and the Director General of Police to transfer all undertrials currently housed outside the territory back to local jails, unless there is a justified, written reason for their continued detention elsewhere. Such cases should undergo quarterly judicial reviews, the petition said.
Mufti highlighted that after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, many IIOJK residents facing investigation or trial were moved to prisons outside the territory. She pointed out the difficulties faced by families due to the long distance, which impedes access to courts, lawyer meetings, and family visits, imposing significant financial burdens on impoverished families.
She also challenged the continuing practice of lodging undertrials belonging to IIOJK in prisons outside the territory, and said the practice relegates undertrials to a condition worse than convicts, violates the presumption of innocence, and undermines basic consititutional rights under Article 21, which guarantees family contact, effective access to counsel, and a meaningful, speedy trial.
Referring to international and Indian standards, including the Model Prison Manual, Mufti stressed that undertrials must be treated differently from convicts. She argued that the continued practice of transferring undertrials to distant jails systematically denies them their basic rights, including humane treatment and regular family and lawyer interviews.
