The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Wednesday revoked bureaucrat-turned-politician Shah Faesal’s detention order under the Public Safety Act, PTI reported. Two Peoples Democratic Party leaders – Pir Mansoor and Sartaj Madni – are also going to be released with Faesal.
On May 14, the administration had extended Faesal’s detention by three months. Faesal, who was booked under the PSA on February 15, was then about to complete three months of detention under the law and was due for a review. He has been in detention at the MLA Hostel in Srinagar.
Faesal was charged for advocating “soft separatism” through his social media posts and articles, according to the government. The stringent Public Safety Act has two sections – public order and threat to the security of the state. The former allows the accused to be detained without a trial for three months, a period which can be extended and the latter allows the accused to be detained for two years.
The politician had been in detention since August last year after the Centre scrapped Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. He was detained at the Delhi airport before he was scheduled to fly abroad and brought to Srinagar under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
In September 2019, Faesal withdrew a plea he had filed in the Delhi High Court against his detention. He said that several residents of Jammu and Kashmir have been unlawfully detained and have no legal recourse.
On May 5, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s detention under the Public Safety Act was also extended by three more months. Former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, who had also been detained, were released in March.
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