New Delhi: Doda MLA and lone Aam Aadmi Occasion lawmaker in Jammu & Kashmir Mehraj Malik was taken into police custody underneath the J&Ok Public Security Act (PSA) Monday. His arrest got here a day after a viral video purportedly confirmed him verbally abusing Doda District Justice of the Peace Harvinder Singh, alleging dereliction of obligation, drawing condemnation from the native Sikh neighborhood.

After being taken into preventive custody, Malik was shifted to the District Jail Bhaderwah in Jammu.

Doda Senior Superintendent of Police Sandeep Mehta instructed ThePrint that this motion has been taken in opposition to Malik due to his “steady involvement in numerous instances…18 instances total since 2014”.

He added: “Reviews from day by day diary entries from numerous police stations indicated that his conduct was contributing to dysfunction within the legislation and order scenario. Therefore, the DM exercised the facility enshrined underneath part 8(2) of the PSA and ordered his detention underneath part 8(1) (a).”

Underneath the PSA, authorities are permitted to detain people merely on suspicion that their actions have been prejudicial to the safety of the Union territory or public order. Detention additionally denies detainees the fitting to be produced earlier than a Justice of the Peace inside 24 hours of arrest. There might be no prosecution or authorized continuing in opposition to the official who has handed the order. The interval of detention can go as much as two years underneath the PSA.

A number of political leaders in J&Ok condemned Malik’s incarceration and implementation of the PSA.

J&Ok CM Omar Abdullah wrote in a put up on X: “There is no such thing as a justification for detaining Mehraj Malik underneath PSA. He’s not a menace to “public security” & utilizing this discredited legislation to detain him is unsuitable. If the unelected authorities can use its powers in opposition to an elected consultant like this then how does anybody count on the individuals of J&Ok to proceed to place confidence in democracy.”

AAP nationwide convenor Arvind Kejriwal additionally wrote: “Is demanding a hospital for the individuals such a grave crime that an elected MLA has been thrown in jail for it? Mehraj Malik is a lion of the Aam Aadmi Occasion. He’ll all the time combat because the voice of the individuals for his or her rights. Jail, threats, and conspiracies can by no means intimidate any soldier of AAP.”

Taking to X, Peoples Democratic Occasion (PDP) MLA Waheed Para attacked the administration and likened the transfer to utilizing authoritarian measures.

“Strongly condemn using PSA in opposition to MLA Mehraj Malik. Such draconian legal guidelines are weaponised to silence political voices & crush dissent. Such authoritarian measures are not any approach to resolve variations in a democracy,” he wrote.

Sajad Lone, Handwara MLA and president of the J&Ok Folks’s Convention, condemned using the PSA in opposition to Malik, saying in a put up on X: “It is a soulless democracy. The desire of the individuals of J&Ok continues to be subservient. What’s the enjoyable of getting elections if an elected consultant can not voice his sentiments. A really unhappy day for an already endangered democracy.”

In 2020, Malik received the District Improvement Council elections from the Kahara constituency. He resigned from his put up after successful by a margin of over 4,538 votes within the 2024 meeting elections.

In Might this yr, Malik was booked in a separate case over an alleged altercation with a feminine physician in Doda district.

(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)

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