Jammu: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday appeared before the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, urging it to adopt a humanitarian approach and order the transfer of all undertrial prisoners from the Union Territory who are currently lodged in jails outside J&K.
Questioning the continued detention of such prisoners — many of whom were arrested before and after 2019 “on mere suspicion” — Mehbooba compared their plight to that of high-profile convicts like Asaram and Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who were granted bail or parole despite being convicted of serious crimes.
In her public interest litigation (PIL), she sought directions to ensure that these detainees are brought back to Jammu and Kashmir unless authorities provide specific written reasons for keeping them imprisoned outside the Union Territory.
After appearing before the Chief Justice of the High Court in Jammu, Mehbooba told reporters that her plea stemmed from “compulsion and compassion for hundreds of poor families who have suffered for years without justice.”
“If rapists and murderers like Asaram and Ram Rahim can be released, why should people from Jammu and Kashmir — whose guilt hasn’t been proven — continue to languish in jails as if the judicial process itself has become their punishment?” she asked.
Emphasizing the human angle, she said most of these prisoners belonged to poor families who cannot afford to visit or support their detained relatives. “They have children, wives, and elderly parents at home. Without money to even travel, how can they meet their kin or fight their cases?” she said.
Mehbooba called the court “the last door of justice” for these families and urged it to restore “a sense of dignity and fairness” for undertrials who have not been convicted. She also requested the court to direct authorities to provide financial assistance of ₹20,000–25,000 to families who must travel to distant prisons to attend hearings.
“I hope the court looks at this from a humanitarian perspective, not a technical one,” she said, appealing for the immediate return of all such prisoners to Jammu and Kashmir so they can meet their families and defend themselves effectively.
Following Monday’s hearing, the court adjourned the matter to the next date. “We were given another date,” Mehbooba said, adding that around 3,000–3,500 such undertrials are currently imprisoned outside the Union Territory.
Mehbooba’s PIL, filed on October 26, seeks directions for the transfer of all such undertrial prisoners to local jails unless authorities present compelling, case-specific reasons for their continued detention elsewhere. It also calls for quarterly judicial reviews and the formation of a two-member oversight committee — including a retired district judge — to monitor undertrial locations, family contact logs, and lawyer meetings, and to recommend disciplinary action for any violations while submitting bi-monthly reports to the court.
