Under PSA, Farooq Abdullah confined to one room in his house

September 17, 2019 09:58

National Conference (NC) president and Member of Parliament from Srinagar, Farooq Abdullah, will be confined to a single room in his multi-storey house located on Srinagars high-profile Gupkar Road, hours after Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, approved his detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA).

Senior officials in the government told The Hindu that the government had decided to designate the residence of the three-time chief minister as a subsidiary jail to implement the jail manual and provide all the rights of a prisoner, which include access to legal aid.

With the PSA slapped on Dr. Abdullah to formalise his arrest after 43 days of house detention, the police also started a process to seal all other rooms in his residence and evict the family cook, who had been with him during his house detention. Only one room, with a bathroom, will be spared for Dr. Abdullah and his meetings with anyone from outside will be restricted and only those with a legal order will be allowed.

The controversial Act, which was termed as a lawless law by the rights group Amnesty International India, was introduced by Dr. Abdullahs father Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah in 1975 to contain rampant timber smuggling in the State. Of late, it was slapped on most senior separatist leaders and protesters to detain them for a prolonged period. A person booked under the PSA can be held without a trial for three months.

The Acts provisions were amended on several occasions by the NC government in the past. NC vice president Omar Abdullah, in his public speeches earlier this year, had promised to repeal the PSA in case his party came to power.

All lanes leading to Gupkar Road were sealed for vehicular movement on Monday. The house of Dr. Abdullahs daughter Safiya Khan, who lives next to her father, was conspicuous with a black flag hoisted in protest atop the gate and the NC flag at the houses entrance.

Hinna Abdullah, another daughter, appealed to the government to allow Ms. Khan to visit him for providing medication. Please do not believe any reports about Dr. Abdullah being allowed to have visitors, she said in a statement. Even my sister, who lives next door, is not able to see him. And she is the one who helps him with all his daily medication needs. He is 83 years old. At least allow his daughter to see him, Ms. Abdullah urged.

File pic

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

RR Vs SRH: Who Bowled The Best Spell? Vote!

Bhuvneshwar's early strikes coupled with good spells from Pat Cummins and Thangarasu Natarjan in the middle overs saw SRH clinch victory against all odds.

Raj Bhavan employee files molestation case against Bengal guv

Senior police officials said they received a complaint and are looking into it.

Intense heat sweeps east, south; more heat wave days likely in May

Intense heat swept through east India and parts of the southern peninsular region on Thursday, testing power grids and prompting the Kerala government to order closure of educational institutions till May 6.

Cummins hails Bhuvi's last-ball heroics

Defending 12 in the final over, Bhuvneshwar trapped Rovman Powell in front of the wicket in the last ball to stop Rajasthan Royal's run chase at 200 for 7 and pull off a heist in the end.

'Game never done till it's done': Samson rues loss

Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson said that even while it seemed his side was cruising to victory he was not certain they would get over the line given the unpredictable nature of the league.