New Delhi: The Jammu and Kashmir administration informed Monday the Supreme Court that National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah has been detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA) considering his ‘past conduct’ and possibility of those being repeated on his release, which may ‘prejudice the public order’.
Terming Abdullah as ‘a very vocal critic’ of abrogating Article 370, the J&K administration claimed that his acts squarely fell within the realm of public order as it was ‘calculated to disturb public peace and tranquility’.
The District Magistrate of Srinagar has said this in his reply filed on a plea by Sara Abdullah Pilot, who has challenged the detention of her brother Omar under the provision of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA).
The J&K administration has said that in the history of independent India the existence and continuance of Article 370 of the Constitution, which used to give special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, has ‘always remained a contentious and burning issue’.
“The detenu has been a very vocal critic of any possible abrogation of Article 370 prior to its abrogation August 5, 2019. It is submitted that considering the very peculiar geo-political position of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and its geographical proximity with Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the concept of ‘public order’ needs to be examined contextually,” it said.
It also said that Abdullah should have moved the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to avail his remedy before approaching the apex court.
The matter came up for hearing Monday before a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Indira Banerjee.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for J&K administration, told the bench about the reply filed by the district magistrate. The bench, which posted the matter for hearing March 5, said the petitioner can file rejoinder, if any, to it.
PTI