IIOJK HC quashes PSA detention of social activist after eight months
Jammu: The High Court of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir has quashed the illegal detention of prominent social activist Waqar H. Bhatti, booked under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA), after nearly eight months of his imprisonment.
According to Kashmir Media Service, his wife, Roohi Bhatti, confirmed to the media that her husband, who is an activist from Rajouri district of occupied Jammu Kashmir, has been released.
“Waqar was detained in February and it has been a long and painful wait for our family. We are relieved that the court finally restored his liberty,” she said, adding that he had been booked under multiple cases for what she described as his outspoken views.
Justice M.A. Chowdhary, while delivering the judgment on October 9, 2025, observed that the authorities had violated constitutional safeguards guaranteed under Article 22(5) of the Constitution by failing to inform the detenue of his rights and by not supplying the complete record on which the detention was based.
Waqar Bhatti, a 40-year-old activist and resident of Saaj village in Tehsil Thanamandi, had been detained on February 21, 2025, by the District Magistrate of Rajouri.
