SC Closes Case Filed by Iltija Against Detention of Her Mother and Former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti

The Supreme Court Thursday closed the case filed by Iltija Mufti against the detention of her mother and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti after taking note of her release two days ago. “Okay. Good,” a bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said when the counsel of Union Territory administration and Iltija informed it about the release of Mufti, who is the president of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

She was released on Tuesday night as the Union Territory administration revoked the Public Safety Act charges against her, more than a year after she was detained following the abrogation of special status of the erstwhile state. At the outset, the bench also comprising Justice Dinesh Maheshwari asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, said now you have released her?.

Mehta replied in affirmative and apprised the court about it. Advocate Nithya Ramakrishnan, appearing for petitioner, also said they have released her.

The bench disposed of the plea saying she has been released. Mehbooba, 60, was arrested on the eve of the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and its bifurcation into Union Territories on August 5 last year.

Mehbooba, who was initially put under preventive custody on August 5 last year and later booked under the stringent PSA on February 6, was shifted to her official residence on April 7 after it was declared a subsidiary jail by the authorities. Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and his father Farooq Abdullah had also been detained under the PSA but were released in March this year.

The writ petition filed by Iltija had challenged Mehbooba’s detention on several grounds. It contended that the grounds and the dossier for detention are “stale, vague and that they suffer from non-application of mind, malice in law and that they violate the provisions of Section 8(3)(b) of the PSA”.

“The detention order based on stale grounds have become staler even more since the petition was filed and the respondent administration has continued to act with total non-application of mind and the malice in law has only been reinforced and aggravated in confirming and extending the order of detention for further periods,” it said.

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