PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has filed a petition in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, urging the immediate transfer of all undertrial prisoners from the Union Territory who are currently lodged in jails outside Jammu and Kashmir.
The petition requests that these prisoners be brought back to local jails unless authorities provide case-specific, written reasons showing a compelling necessity to keep them outside J&K. It also calls for quarterly judicial review of such exceptional cases.
In her plea, Mufti emphasized that as a political activist and former Chief Minister, she has received numerous requests from families of undertrial prisoners to take up the issue with the government. She said the government has not taken any action, prompting her to file the petition in the public interest.
Invoking Article 226 of the Constitution, Mufti seeks the court’s intervention through a writ of mandamus, directing the Union government, J&K Home Department, and DGP to immediately transfer all undertrial prisoners from outside J&K to local jails. The petition specifies that, in exceptional cases, written justification must be provided and subjected to quarterly judicial review.
Mufti highlighted that following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, many J-K residents under investigation or trial have been lodged in prisons far from the Union Territory. She noted that while FIRs are registered and trials conducted within J&K, incarceration outside the UT limits court access, family visits, and meetings with legal counsel, imposing heavy travel costs on impoverished families.
The PDP chief described the practice of housing J-K undertrials in distant prisons as “worse than convict treatment,” arguing that it violates the presumption of innocence and infringes Article 21 guarantees, including family contact, effective access to counsel, and a meaningful, speedy trial. She referenced international and national standards, including the Model Prison Manual, which call for humane treatment, regular family and lawyer interviews, and differential treatment of undertrials versus convicts.
Mufti also pointed out that many trials involve voluminous evidence and extensive witness lists, necessitating sustained, private consultations between lawyers and clients, something practically impossible when undertrials are housed in distant states.
The petition further seeks specific measures to ensure family and counsel access, including Weekly in-person family visits, Unrestricted privileged lawyer-client interviews, subject to reasonable regulations, no denial of visits due to costs or escort issues, and Court monitoring of compliance with quarterly reporting.
Additionally, Mufti proposed priority physical production of repatriated undertrials, fixed timelines for evidence recording, and prevention of adjournments caused by custody logistics. She also advocated establishing a two-member oversight and grievance redress committee, comprising a retired high court judge and a member of the State Legal Services Authority (SLSA), to audit undertrial locations, family-contact logs, lawyer-interview registers, and production orders, recommend disciplinary action for non-compliance, and submit bi-monthly status reports to the court.
Finally, the petition requests reimbursement of reasonable travel and accommodation expenses for one family member per month to visit undertrials in out-of-state prisons, verified through prison records and tickets, until the transfer process is complete.
