Shah Faesal’s plea: Delhi HC seeks response from Centre

Source: livemint.com

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought a response from the Central government on a plea by detained bureaucrat-turned politician Shah Faesal, from Srinagar, to provide him the copy of the lookout circular issued against him.

A bench of Justices Manmohan and Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal asked the Centre to file its response on or before 2 September, while listing the hearing in the case to 3 September.

Advocate Warisa Sarasat, representing Faesal, said they do not know the grounds on which the lookout circular (LOC) was issued.

Sarasat said the lookout circular can only prevent Faesal from travelling but cannot justify his arrest and detention, which was “malafide” on the part of the central government.

“There was nobody at the airport … who was he inciting at the airport? CRPF personnel,” Faesal’s counsel contended on allegation that the politician was instigating a gathering of people at the airport.

Faesal had moved Delhi High court last week with a petition that challenged his detention at the Indira Gandhi International Airport under The Public Safety Act. The plea said the manner in which he was “whisked away” to Kashmir without even a transit remand amounts to “abduction”.

The plea said Faesal was on his way to Harvard University in the US for higher studies when he was illegally detained at the Delhi airport.

The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) government through its affidavit filed in the high court in response to Faesal’s habeas corpus petition said he “instigated” people gathered at the Srinagar airport against the sovereignty and integrity of the country. The affidavit was filed on Tuesday.

“On his arrival at Srinagar, the Petitioner began to address a gathering of people at the arrival terminal of the Srinagar Airport itself. He started instigating the persons gathered there, against the sovereignty and integrity of India, having the potential of breach of peace,” the affidavit said.

Faesal didn’t have a student visa, despite his claims of was going to the US for studies, the state government, through DIG, CKR, Srinagar, had said.

The former bureaucrat has been critical of the Centre’s decision to scrap Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. He had said Kashmir was experiencing an “unprecedented” lockdown, with its 8 million population “incarcerated” like never before after Article 370 was abrogated, revoking the special status granted to the state.