Srinagar
A petition challenging the detention of party’s general secretary Haji Ali Muhammad Sagar who is under detention since August 5, 2019, has been filed in the High Court. Sagar’s son, Ishfaq Sagar has filed a plea in the high court challenging the detention of Ali Mohammad Sagar under the Public Safety Act in High court.
In a statement issued from party headquarters, provincial spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said, “We have always maintained that the Sagar Sahib’s detention is undemocratic, illegal. The government has no right to deprive a citizen of his liberty, even one moment without the authority of law. Having him inside is disrespectful to people whom he have represented and made laws for. When the world is going through worst of public health nightmare, which requires social distancing and proper sanitation, his protracted incarceration has added to the concerns of his family and well-wishers,” adding, “The measure reveals the horrible and perturbing indifference of the present ruling dispensation for basic human rights. He has some pre-existing health issues thereby making him more vulnerable to Covid19. The family of the incarcerated leader has to go through tough times in meeting him.”
Seeing no light at the end of the tunnel, his family chose to knock the door of the high court. “We are sure that the honourable high court will provide succour to the family. The High Court today has issued a notice in this regard to the government asking them to respond to the petition. The Court has fixed the matter for considering the interim release of Sagar on 16 April 2020,” he said adding, “Lawyers representing Sagar sb, Adv Shariq Reyaz and Adv Shuja ul Haq, pleaded before the court that no material forming the basis of the order has been provided to Sagar Sb and thus the detention is illegal and unconstitutional. It was also pleaded that Sagar is a senior citizen suffering from multiple ailments and given the outbreak of pandemic is susceptible to a grave risk of contracting the disease and thus his interim release was necessary for the present scenario.”
“We are hopeful that the honourable court will act and secure the liberty of a citizen who also happens to be a former legislature, lawmaker and minister; a person who has all along been showing deference to constitution and rule of law,” he said.
It is pertinent to mention here that Sagar has been detained since August 2019 under section 107 and was thereafter booked under the public safety act on 05 February 2020.
