Three Kashmiri lawyers approach IIOJK High Court to avert PSA detention
Srinagar : Three practising Kashmiri lawyers have approached the High Court of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, apprehending their detention under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) in connection with a case registered against them in Srinagar.
According to Kashmir Media Service, advocates Irfan Akbar Malla, Umar Mushtaq Mir and Jahangir Ahmad Butt filed a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution, seeking protection from preventive detention under the PSA. The petitioners were represented by Advocate Saleem Gul.
The lawyers implicated in an incident linked to proceedings in a case under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act before the 4th Additional Munsiff, Srinagar. The advocates stated that while they were proceeding towards the office of the District Legal Services Authority at the District Court Complex, Srinagar, for mediation proceedings, an altercation took place with the opposite party in the matrimonial dispute.
The petitioners alleged that one of them was assaulted and that a selectively edited video of the incident was subsequently uploaded on social media.
Following the incident, a case was registered at Police Station Batamaloo under the draconian Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the three advocates. They apprehended that the authorities could selectively target them by invoking the PSA against them and argued that preventive detention should not be used as a substitute for proceedings under ordinary criminal law. The High Court had earlier, on March 31, restrained the authorities from detaining the petitioners in connection with the FIR without prior permission of the Court.
In its latest order pronounced on September 22, Justice Rajesh Sekhri disposed of the petition by directing the authorities to refrain from detaining the three advocates under the PSA.
The case highlights the growing apprehension among the Kashmiri society over the possible use of preventive-detention laws even in cases involving legal professionals. The fact that three practising advocates had to approach the High Court to avert the possibility of detention under the PSA underscores concerns over the reach of such laws and the sense of insecurity they can create, with even members of the legal profession not feeling beyond their potential ambit.
