Bureaucrat-turned-politician Shah Faesal on Tuesday contended that the Delhi High Court has the territorial jurisdiction to hear his habeas corpus plea as he was detained at the IGI Airport and was forcibly taken to Srinagar.
Mr. Faesal also told the court that the Lookout Circular issued against him was prima facie a mala fide exercise of power and no reasonable ground was made out for it. The submissions filed on behalf of Mr. Faesal said a copy of the LOC was not provided to him nor details of the contents are given in the Jammu and Kashmir government’s reply to his petition.
A Bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal posted the case for further hearing on September 12 as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was unavailable for the day. Earlier, the J&K government had informed the High Court that Mr. Faesal was put under detention as per the order of an executive magistrate in Budgam after he created an “unruly atmosphere at the [Srinagar] airport”.
House arrest
The J&K government said it was only on his refusal to furnish a bond/security, as required under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, that the detention order was passed. Mr. Faesal had filed the habeas corpus plea in HC here claiming that he was illegally detained on August 14 and taken back to Srinagar, where he has been kept under house arrest.