The social media posts which form the basis for the continued detention of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah were not made from his official Facebook account, his sister Sara Abdullah Pilot said on Monday.
A scrutiny of the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) shown on the posts draws a blank. The URL is non-existent, she told the Supreme Court.
Ms. Pilot said these social media posts formed the sole basis for the government’s decision to detain her brother under the Public Safety Act since February 5, 2020. Mr. Abdullah was first detained on August 5, 2019, just before the abrogation of the special status accorded to the Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution.
The government said Mr. Abdullah disturbed the maintenance of public order with his “activities.”
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In her reply affidavit, Ms. Pilot said it was “appalling” that the government was justifying her brother’s detention on the ground that the standards of “public order” in J&K was different due to its close geographical proximity with Pakistan. “Pakistan is in close geographical proximity with three other States [Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan] as well, and by extended logic, the public order in such States should also be contextually modified,” the affidavit said.
Ms. Pilot has asked the apex court to direct the authorities to produce her brother in court and set him free immediately. She said she had no information of his whereabouts.
Shahid Iqbal Chaudhary, District Magistrate of Srinagar, had recently informed the apex court in his affidavit that Mr. Abdullah “was, and continues to be, detained in conformity with the mandatory provisions of the PSA.”
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Mr. Chaudhary, represented by Attorney General K.K. Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, had argued that Mr. Abdullah’s continued detention under PSA was based on material and documents showing his “activities,” even before his first detention in August 2019, was “calculated to disturb public peace and tranquillity”.
The Magistrate had said the subjective satisfaction of the detaining authority, the grounds of detention and the dossier prepared for his detention under PSA all clearly indicate a “live and proximate link” between the activities of Mr. Abdullah and the “events that occurred in the past.”
The Magistrate had said the previous activities of Mr. Abdullah, which were available in the public domain, indicated that he may act in a manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order in J&K even in future.
