Omar Abdullah has been under detention since August 5 last year. (File)
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, under arrest for the last six months, have been charged under the Public Safety Act - a stringent law that allows detention without trial for up to three months, sources told NDTV on Thursday.
Requesting not to be named, a senior police officer told NDTV that a District Magistrate has signed detention warrants against Mr Abdullah and Ms Mufti. Mehbooba Mufti's daughter Iltija, who handles her Twitter account, confirmed the order.
Ms Mehbooba Mufti, former Chief Minister J&K to whom this twitter handle belongs has been detained since 5th August 2019 without access to the account. This handle is now operated by myself, Iltija daughter of Ms Mufti with due authorisation.
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) September 20, 2019
Two more leaders - Ali Mohammad Sagar of the National Conference (NC) and Sartaj Madhvi of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) - have also been booked under the PSA. Ironically, the charges against Mr Sagar, a general secretary of the NC, include his ability to mobilise people especially for voting in elections at the height of militancy in Kashmir.
Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti will be kept at the facilities where they are currently under detention.
Omar Abdullah's father, Farooq Abdullah was charged under the same law last September and has been under house arrest since August as well. The 83-year-old politician was charged with "disturbing public order" under the law, which means shorter detention of three months.
Hundreds of politicians including the Abdullahs and Mehbooba Mufti were detained or arrested in August as part of the centre's massive clampdown after its decision to end special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the constitution and split it into two union territories.
Using the PSA against Farooq Abdullah was the first instance of the law being used against a mainstream politician, especially an MP and a three-time Chief Minister. Usually, it has been used to arrest terrorists, separatists or stone-throwers.
Formally called the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, the law was introduced by Farooq Abdullah's father, former Chief Minister Sheikh Abdullah, to target timber smugglers.
The PSA, often described as a "draconian law", empowers the government to detain individuals whose actions can be seen as "instigating, provoking or disturbing, or is likely to disturb, public order". It also allows the government to detain individuals "outside the limits of the territorial jurisdiction of the officer making the order".
Under Section 13 of the PSA, detention orders can only be issued by a Divisional Commissioner or District Magistrate, neither one of which is obliged to disclose facts about the detention that "it considers to be against the public interest".
