Farooq Abdullah Detained Under PSA, SC Issues Notice to Centre

New Delhi: In a significant development, the Supreme Court today issued notice and sought a response from the centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration on a petition seeking to produce  Farooq Abdulla before the top court.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SA Bobde and SA Nazeer issued notice to the centre and the state, and fixed Rajya Sabha MP and MDMK leader Vaiko’s plea for hearing on September 30.

Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah, is under detention under Public Safety Act (PSA) since last month when the centre scrapped special status from the state and divided it into two union territories.

Mr Abdullah has been detained under the Public Safety Act, which has provisions for detention up to two years, sources said. His party the National Conference had objected to the scrapping of special status.

Tamil Nadu’s MDMK leader Vaiko, who filed the petition in the apex court,  said Mr Abdullah has been kept under “illegal detention without any authority of law” in violation of his constitutional rights. “The actions of the respondents (government) are completely illegal and arbitrary and violative of the right to protection of life and personal liberty, right to protection from arrest and detention and also against right to free speech and expression which is the cornerstone of a democratic nation,”