HC lists detained AAP MLA Mehraj Malik’s petition for final consideration on Nov 20

The J&K and Ladakh High Court on Friday listed the Habeas Corpus petition of the detained AAP MLA Mehraj Malik for final consideration on 20 November.

The petition against the detention of Malik under the Public Safety Act (PSA) was listed before Justice Rajneesh Oswal.

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Malik, who is MLA representing the Doda East constituency in the Jammu division, was arrested on 8 September after being booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for allegedly disturbing public order.

When the matter was taken up for hearing, senior advocate Rahul Pant, SS Ahmed, and advocates Appu Singh Slathia, M Tariq Mughal and M Zulkarnain Chowdhary vociferously submitted that the reply has not been filed by the government till date and due to the lackadaisical approach of the government, a sitting MLA is still behind bars, due to which the people of his constituency are suffering.

Furthermore, senior advocate Sunil Sethi, with senior AAG Monika Kohli appearing for the government, submitted that they filed their replies yesterday, but due to the defect in the affidavit, the same is not on record. In the open court, the counsels for the respondent served the copies of the reply to the counsels of the petitioner.

The court directed the registry to place on record the replies filed by the government and directed the counsels for the government to make available the record on the next date of hearing. The matter has been listed for final consideration on 20 November.