Former civil servant and chief of Jammu & Kashmir People's Movement (JKPM), Shah Faesal, has been booked under Public Safety Act which means that he can be detained without a trial for up to three months that can be extended.
Faesal was detained in August 2019 after the government scrapped special status of Jammu and Kashmir. Faesal was about to fly out of India, but he was detained and sent back to Srinagar. The civil servant-turned-politician has been under detention since then.
In September 2019, Faesal told the Delhi High Court that the Look-Out Circular issued against him was a "mala fide exercise of power" and the government had furnished a false account of the circumstances leading to his arrest.
Faesal alleges govt after being detained
Faesal, who was stopped from flying abroad was placed under confinement, told the court that issuance of LOC against him is "highly suspect exercise for which no reasonable ground is made out".
Rebutting the claims of the Jammu and Kashmir government regarding the events of his arrest, he said that its version is "patently untrue".
The government had then stated that Faesal, who was taken from New Delhi to Srinagar late on August 14, "upon his arrival in Srinagar, while he was still accompanied with armed security officers, allegedly started to address a large gathering of people inside the arrival terminal and mobilising people, leading to the police allegedly making a report and an Executive Magistrate being brought in person to the airport itself".
Responding to the account, Faesal stated: "Firstly, the version of the events is implausible because August 14, which is one day before Independence Day, there was exceptionally heavy security in every part of Srinagar, especially the airport."
"The number of flights landing in Srinagar in the evening on the 14th, and the number of passengers travelling to Srinagar in the midst of current communication and transport blockades, is naturally very few, so there is no chance of any crowding in the airport... Therefore, it is truly inconceivable that there could have been any 'large gathering' of people."
Faesal also noted that when the plane carrying the petitioner landed in Srinagar, all other passengers were made to wait on board till he made to disembark first, surrounded by special armed security forces, and handed over to security forces in Srinagar.
"Thereafter, the petitioner was surrounded by 10-15 security force personnel... the petitioner was whisked through the airport, put into the car, and taken directly to the detention centre in Srinagar."
Faesal further stated that there was clearly no factual reason to prompt the alleged police report on the subsequent order of detention and the said order has been passed with "mala fide" intent in the absence of any production before a magistrate.
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