Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) chief and former Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who has been under house arrest under Public Safety Act since August 2019, to be released from detention, informed J&K Administration spokesperson Rohit Kansal. Mehbooba Mufti along with several J&K politicians including Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, others were put under house arrest on the eve of abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir last year.
Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter Iltija, who handles her Twitter account, on her mother’s release from house arrest, took to the microbogging site and wrote, “As Ms Mufti’s illegal detention finally comes to an end, I’d like to thank everybody who supported me in these tough times. I owe a debt of gratitude to you all. This is Iltija signing off. May allah protect you.”
The Jammu and Kashmir administration in a letter said, “In exercise of powers conferred under section 19(1) of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978, the government hereby revokes the detenion order bearing No. DMS/PSA/147/2020 dated 05-02-2020 issued by District Magistrate, Srinagar, which was last extended for a period of three months vide government order Home/PB-V/1449 of 2020 dated 31-07-2020 of Mehbooba Mufti D/o Late Mufti Mohammad Sayed R/o Bijbehara A/P Nowgam, Srinagar, with immediate effect.”
The development has come after last week the Supreme Court asked Jammu and Kashmir administration to respond to Iltija Mufti’s amended plea challenging the detention of her mother and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti under the J&K Public Safety Act, saying detention cannot be forever and “some via media” should be explored.
A bench of justices SK Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy said that PDP leader should place a request to the authorities for attending party meetings. The apex court permitted Iltija and her uncle to meet Mehbooba Mufti in detention.
Mehbooba, the president of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was put under detention on the eve of abrogation of special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 on August 5 last year.