Over the last few weeks, a number of lawyers in Jammu and Kashmir have been imprisoned by police for unknown reasons.
Mohammad Ashraf Bhat, Senior Advocate and former General Secretary of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association (HCBA), Srinagar, is the newest inmate, following the detention of Senior Advocate Nazir Ahmad Ronga and Advocate Mian Muzaffar.
Mian Qayoom, the former President of the HCBA, was detained this month, but only in the case of Advocate Babar Qadri's 2020 murder.Family members and supporters of the first three lawyers have stated that the first three lawyers were detained under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act of 1978.The Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 (PSA) is a preventative detention statute that allows a person to be detained without a formal accusation or trial in order to prevent him from acting in any way that is "prejudicial to the security of the state or the maintenance of public order".
Section 13 requires detainees to be informed of the basis for their imprisonment no later than 10 days following their incarceration. The detainee is given the option to make a representation to the administration disputing the order.
Detainees typically file a High Court petition alleging that their representation to the administration was not addressed in a timely manner.
In every case where a detention order has been issued, the administration must provide the details to an Advisory Board within four weeks, and the Board is obligated to report within six weeks. Based on this report, the detention is either continued or advised to be terminated.
The PSA takes effect following an administrative order issued by the District Magistrate (DM). The DM is required by law to exercise his discretion before ordering the preventative custody of anyone under the Act.The maximum detention period under the PSA is two years.
However, the Jammu and Kashmir Police has yet to issue an official announcement regarding these detentions.
