Srinagar, Dec 18 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, on Thursday, adjourned the next hearing to December 27 of the Public Safety Act (PSA) detention case of Doda MLA from the Aam Aadmi Party, Mehraj Malik.

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has heard the PSA detention case of MLA Mehraj Malik but adjourned the hearing to December 27 after hearing the arguments from one side.

The court will hear the arguments of the other side on December 27 and then give its judgment on the PSA detention of MLA Mehraj Malik.

The case has been adjourned in the past as well by the High Court.

Supporters of the MLA said that they are hopeful that the case would be decided finally on its next hearing on December 27.

Mehraj Malik had been in news for wrong reasons when a he used unparliamentary and irresponsible comments against the District Magistrate of Doda district in a video that went viral.

Earlier also, Mehraj Malik had reportedly misbehaved with a woman doctor during his visit to the Doda district hospital.

Mehraj Malik was arrested on September 8 after an online video went viral where the MLA used unparliamentary language against Doda Deputy Commissioner Harvinder Singh, over pending dues of a local.

A battery of lawyers, including senior advocate Rahul Pant, Appu Singh Salathia, M. Zulkarnain Chowdhary and Joginder Singh Thakur have pleaded his case.

The lawyers had pleaded before the court that the matter should be treated as urgent because the detainee is an elected representative.

The Doda MLA is required by the people to carry out the duties of his office.

The matter deserves expeditious hearing, his lawyers said.

Mehraj Malik has also claimed a compensation of Rs 5 crore from the respondents for ‘violation of his fundamental rights and curtailment of his personal liberty’.

Malik won the 2024 Assembly election from Doda as an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate, becoming the party’s only representative in the 90-member Assembly.

PSA is a harsh act usually invoked against secessionist and anti-national elements.

Drug smugglers and timber smugglers have also at times been detained under the PSA.

The stringent Act allows detention of a person for a maximum period of two years without any judicial intervention.

It was introduced by the then Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1978 to ostensibly stop timber smuggling.

However, the political motives behind the law became clearer when Sheikh Abdullah used it for the first time against political rivals.

Since its usage in the late 1970s, it is still being used today for the security of the state.

Following the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, PSA was one of the state laws which was retained under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

–IANS

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