SRINAGAR: In an unusual display of unity inside the Jammu Kashmir Legislative Assembly, legislators across party lines jointly demanded the revocation of the Public Safety Act (PSA) invoked against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Mehraj Malik, who represents Doda constituency and is currently lodged in Kathua jail.
Malik was detained in September after the District Magistrate of Doda slapped PSA charges against him, making him the first sitting legislator in Jammu Kashmir to be booked under the stringent law since its enactment in 1978. The PSA allows detention for up to two years without trial.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, National Conference (NC) MLA Sajjad Shaheen sought a one-hour discussion in the House to condemn the move and pressed for Malik’s immediate release. “His arrest under PSA sets a dangerous precedent. Today it is Malik, tomorrow it can be any one of us,” Shaheen said, urging the Speaker to take up the matter as a question of legislative privilege.
Joining him, NC MLA Nazir Ahmad Khan (Gurezi) demanded the constitution of a special committee to conduct an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the invocation of PSA against the Doda legislator. “If Malik had been involved in militancy or anti-national activities, none of us would have supported him. But can a deputy commissioner send an elected representative to jail? The DC is not the final authority,” Khan remarked, drawing loud support from members across the aisle.
Several opposition legislators, including Independent MLA Shabir Kullay and Awami Ittehad Party’s Sheikh Khurshid, protested against the arrest and briefly attempted to march toward the well of the House.
Adding his voice, NC MLA Farooq Ahmad Shah, a former deputy commissioner, said the decision to book a legislator under PSA should rest “at the highest level” and not with the district administration.
The government, however, faced a lone defence from BJP legislator RS Pathania, who said the matter was sub judice and that the district magistrate had the discretion to invoke PSA under law. “Since the case is pending before the court, the House should not discuss it,” he said, prompting protests from the opposition benches.
The dossier against Malik accuses him of instigating people, disrupting public order, and showing “no respect for harmonious coexistence.” But several lawmakers described the charges as politically motivated. Peoples Conference MLA Sajad Lone called the detention “unjustified” and described the PSA as a “black law misused by all governments.” He urged parties to apologise for levelling unfounded allegations against Malik during the recent Rajya Sabha elections.
Peoples Democratic Party legislators, including Waheed Parra and Rafiq Naik, also supported the call for revoking the PSA, saying such actions erode public faith in democratic institutions.
