Former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti's detention under PSA extended by 3 months

File image: Mehbooba Mufti

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA) has been extended by three months, officials told news agency PTI.

Mufti was initially put under preventive custody on August 5, 2019, and later booked under the stringent PSA on February 6 this year. On April 7 this year, she was shifted from a make-shift jail to her residence.

The J&K administration has also extended the detention of senior National Conference (NC) leader Ali Mohammed Sagar and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Sartaj Madani under the PSA by three months.

Several political leaders including Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah were detained by the authorities on August 5 last year, after the Centre abrogated the special status of the erstwhile state of J&K and bifurcated it into two union territories -- Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.

However, the detention of senior Abdullah and his son was revoked earlier in March this year.

Mufti's daughter, Iltija, moved a habeas corpus petition before the Supreme Court in February challenging her mother's detention. A three-judge bench had issued a notice to the Jammu and Kashmir administration seeking its response on the plea and posted the matter for March 18. However, the petition was not taken up for hearing due to coronavirus outbreak.

(With inputs from PTI)