The J&K administration extends Mehbooba Mufti’s detention under Public Safety Measures by 3 more months

The administration of Jammu &Kashmir has extended former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s confinement under the Public Safety Act (PSA) by three more months, sources said. The progress in this matter comes on a day when JKPC (Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Conference) chief and ex-minister Sajad Lone and 50-odd mainstream leaders were released from home detention in Srinagar.

The leaders were detained when the central government decided to abrogate Article 370 and 35-A of the Indian Constitution on August 5th last year.

Many mainstream leaders who were detained last year have since been released, including former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah.

At the beginning of May, Mufti’s confinement under the PSA was further extended for three months on Friday. This date was ending in time to come. Simultaneously, in view of the Corona emergency, the Mufti has been moved from impermanent prison to her home. The Muftis have been in custody since the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir a year ago.

The Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 (PSA) is a preventive confinement law under which an individual is taken into custody to prevent them from acting harmfully against “the security of the state or the maintenance of the public order” in the Indian province of Jammu and Kashmir (now a union territory).

Earlier, Sajad Lone, chief of the People’s Conference, was released by the government on Friday. Lone was also detained at the time of Article 370 being revoked. Lone had tweeted the information about the release. He had said that five days before the finishing of one year, I was officially informed that I am now free.

A year ago, Article 370 of the Indian Constitution gives special rights to Jammu and Kashmir was invalidated by the Modi government. Several state leaders were detained before to this decision. With the circumstances normal, several people have been released. Mehbooba Mufti has also run an alliance government in the state with BJP till June 2018.