The government on Monday informed the Supreme Court of its intention to not detain Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association president, Mian Abdul Qayoom, any further after August 6.
Also read: Supreme Court issues notice on J&K advocate’s detention under PSA
Mr. Qayoom’s detention period under the Public Safety Act expires on August 6. He has been in detention for a year since the removal of the special rights of the Kashmiri people under Article 370 in August 2019.
Mr. Qayoom’s lawyers, senior advocate Dushyant Dave and advocate Vrinda Grover, urged for his immediate release, more so because the government does not intend to detain him any further. They said his detention was illegal.
The court asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to take instructions on whether an immediate release on bail would be possible. The court agreed to hear the case next on July 29.
Also read: Supreme Court asks J&K admin to explain detaining bar leader after expiry of order under PSA
In the last hearing, the court had asked the Jammu and Kashmir administration to explain the basis for detaining the erstwhile State’s High Court Bar Association president and 73-year-old Qayoom for a year.
“He is 73. We want to know on what basis you like to detain him in Tihar [Jail]. His detention as per the order has already expired,” a Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had said.
Also read: J&K HC asks Bar leader to shun ideology and move govt. for release
Mr. Qayoom has been detained under the Public Safety Act since August 7 last year. His petition said he was taken to Agra jail without “prior intimation.”
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court had rejected his habeas corpus petition to quash his “illegal and prolonged detention” on May 28. The High Court had declined his plea for personal liberty despite concluding that the detention order was based on “somewhat clumsy grounds.”
Mr. Qayoom submitted that the detention order was based on four “stale, irrelevant” FIRs dating back to 2008 and 2010. Mr. Qayoom said he had never been arrested or chargesheeted on the basis of these FIRs. In fact, he had been detained in 2010 on the basis of these FIRs, but the detention was subsequently revoked. Mr. Qayoom said the same FIRs could not be used a decade later to pass another order of detention in August 2019.
