Farooq, Omar move HC to challenge ‘illegal house detention’ of 16 NC leaders

M Aamir Khan

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 13

Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) president Farooq Abdullah and vice-president Omar Abdullah on Monday filed habeas corpus petitions in the High Court challenging the ‘unconstitutional and illegal house detention’ of 16 senior party leaders and functionaries.

The JKNC claimed that 16 of its leaders had been kept under house arrest without ‘administrative orders’ and the decision to move the High Court was taken as the ‘last resort’.

Though several JKNC leaders were released after being detained in the wake of abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 last year, party spokesman Imran Nabi said they had now been kept under house arrest. “Shifting of the detainees from detention centres to their homes only characteriwed revolving-door detention practice….The house detentions without any administrative orders are unlawful, undermining due respect to human rights and individual liberty. We are hopeful that the court will come to the rescue of our colleagues, who have been suffering for no fault ever since the abrogation of provisions of Article 370, Article 35 A on August 5, 2019. This was the only recourse left to us. We are hopeful that the court will uphold the civil liberties of our colleagues most of whom have not been keeping well,” the JKNC spokesman said.

Farooq, who is also the Member of Parliament from Srinagar, has filed the petition for the release of Ali Mohammad Sagar, Abdul Rahim Rather, Nasir Aslam Wani, Aga Syed Mehmood, Mohammad Khalil Bandh, Irfan Shah and Sahmeema Firdous from ‘illegal house detention’.

Omar has filed the petition challenging the detention of Mohammad Shafi Uri, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, Chaudhary Mohammad Ramzaan, Mubarak Gul, Bashir Veeri, Abdul Majeed Larmi, Basharat Bukhari, Saifudin Bhat Shutru and Mohammad Shafi.

The JKNC said the petitions had been filed through their counsel Advocate Shariq Reyaz.