Copyright republicworld
New Delhi, Oct 25: PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has filed a petition in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court seeking the immediate transfer of undertrial prisoners from jails outside the union territory to facilities within Jammu and Kashmir.The petition, filed under Article 226 of the Constitution, urges the court to issue a writ of mandamus directing the union government, the J&K Home Department, and the Director General of Police to repatriate all such prisoners unless authorities provide case-specific, written reasons demonstrating compelling necessity. The plea also calls for quarterly judicial review of any exceptions.Following the revocation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, Mehbooba Mufti stated that a number of Jammu and Kashmir residents under investigation or facing trial were being held in prisons outside the Union Territory.In her petition, she stated, “FIRs are filed in J&K and trials are held there, yet the jails are located hundreds of kilometres away, making it difficult to access courts, meet family, and consult lawyers. This imposes significant travel costs on poor families.”The petition further argues that the practice violates Article 21 of the Constitution and undermines the principle of presumption of innocence.The petition proposes the formation of a two-member oversight committee comprising a retired High Court judge and a member of the State Legal Services Authority.The committee would audit prisoner locations, family contact logs, lawyer interview registers, and production orders and submit bi-monthly reports to the court.In Aug 2024, National Conference Member of Parliament Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi had written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, stating that families of detainees were struggling to meet their relatives and calling for their release or transfer.“Relatives of these prisoners find it tough physically and financially to meet them in different parts of the country,” Mehdi had said.In March 2025, he added that over 5,000 Kashmiri youth were held in jails outside the UT, many without trial, and described the situation as punishment without conviction.People’s Conference president Sajad Gani Lone had also raised the matter in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly earlier this year.After his resolution seeking the return of detainees was disallowed, Lone staged a walkout and said, “We are elected representatives. If we cannot speak for our people, then what is the point of this House?”Pertinently, in December 2024, Mufti invited NC vice president and sitting chief minister Omar Abdullah to lead an all-party delegation to visit jails housing J&K detainees. Abdullah then said, “We are open to any collective effort that helps bring justice to those detained.”
