SRINAGAR, Oct 27: The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Monday witnessed heated scenes after opposition lawmakers raised strong objections to the detention of AAP MLA Mehraj Malik under the Public Safety Act (PSA) last month.
As soon as the House assembled, NC MLA from Banihal, Sajjad Shaheen, demanded a one-hour discussion on the issue, calling Malik’s detention “unjust and alarming.” However, BJP MLA from Udhampur East, R.S. Pathania, countered that invoking the PSA was purely an administrative prerogative of the district magistrate.
The remark triggered uproar from several opposition members, including the lone AIP MLA from Langate, Sheikh Khursheed, and others from the treasury benches, who stood up in protest.
Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather intervened, urging members to maintain decorum. “Let him (Pathania) speak even if you don’t like what he says,” he said, warning that nobody would be allowed to enter the well of the House.
Pathania maintained that any issue pending adjudication before a court of law cannot be discussed in the Assembly, prompting sharp responses from opposition benches.
“Will this state be run by DCs?” asked NC MLA from Gurez, Nazir Ahmad Khan Gurezi, questioning the unchecked powers under the PSA. “If Malik had done something anti-national, we would never support it. But can a DC send anyone to jail? Today it is Malik, tomorrow it can be any of us. This House is supreme, and we must discuss this issue,” he said, demanding the formation of a House committee to probe the detention.
People’s Conference MLA from Handwara, Sajad Lone, also joined the protest, terming the PSA a “black law” and calling the detention “unjustified.”
Amid continued sloganeering and arguments across party lines, the Speaker reiterated that “any issue pending before the court cannot be discussed in the House.”
The Public Safety Act, a preventive detention law unique to Jammu and Kashmir, empowers the administration to detain individuals for up to two years without trial, a provision that has long drawn criticism from political and civil rights groups.
Recent Comments