Stringent Public Safety Act against Shah Faesal revoked

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Wednesday revoked the stringent Public Safety Act against former IAS officer-turned-politician Shah Faesal and two PDP members, including the maternal uncle of former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, officials said.

The controversial Public Safety Act (PSA) against Faesal, which was extended by three months on May 14, has now been superseded by the order on Wednesday from the Home Department of the Union Territory.

Faesal, a former civil servant and chief of Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement (JKPM), was booked under PSA in February 2020. The Home Department also revoked the stringent act against senior PDP leaders Sartaj Madani and Peer Mansoor.

Madani was lodged with National Conference general secretary Ali Mohammed Sagar at a government bunglow. Their detention had been extended on May 5 for a period of three months.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration had arrested most of the political leaders after the abrogation of Article 370 in August last year. Faesal was arrested on August 14, 2019 at the Delhi international airport and was put in preventive custody under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc). Following abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, thousands of people including three former Chief Ministers were arrested. The government has set free former Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah and his son and also a former Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah. But others including Mehbooba Mufti, Shah Faesal, PDP and NC leaders Naeem Akhtar and Ali Mohd Sagar are still under detention under the Public Safety Act.

After his arrest in August 2019, Shah Faesal challenged his detention in Delhi High Court but he soon withdrew it.

(With agency inputs)