PDP President Mehbooba Mufti raised concerns regarding Kashmiri undertrial prisoners lodged in jails outside Jammu and Kashmir. Mufti claimed that approximately 1,260 Kashmiri youths are currently lodged in various jails across India, many of whom have been detained for five to six years without trial.
She said she had sought an “access protocol” in her petition, which included mandatory weekly in-person family meetings and unrestricted, privileged lawyer-client interactions. Mufti said many families of these undertrials lack the financial means to travel long distances to meet their relatives or pursue legal remedies.
“These people are undertrials, not convicts. Some of them have been in jail for five to six years without trial,” she said, adding that such treatment violates basic legal principles. She noted that families from poor backgrounds are often forced to sell land or jewellery to afford legal expenses and travel costs to distant states such as Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
Mufti also called for the formation of a two-member oversight committee of retired district judges to audit prison locations and monitor family-contact logs. The PDP chief expressed disappointment that the issue was not raised in Parliament, stating that information sought from the administration and police regarding the detainees was not provided. She said the elected government could have compiled and shared these details, and its MPs could have raised the issue in Parliament.
Mufti said courts had already acknowledged that the prisoners were undertrials but had failed to provide relief. Responding to allegations that she was politicising the matter, Mufti termed them “ironic,” stressing that her concern stems from firsthand knowledge of the suffering endured by affected families. “I will not let this issue rest,” she said.
She criticised the court’s stance, questioning why it could not take suo motu notice of such humanitarian issues even if her PIL was rejected. She also asked why the judiciary appears to grant parole and bail to “hardened criminals” while Kashmiri undertrials remain “voiceless and forgotten.”
The PDP chief had earlier filed a PIL in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court seeking the transfer of Kashmiri prisoners lodged in other states back to jails within Jammu and Kashmir. However, the High Court, in a 15-page order delivered by a bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal, dismissed the plea, describing it as a “vehicle for political mobilisation” and “garnering political advantage.” The bench ruled that Mufti was a “third-party stranger” to the cause, as the affected prisoners themselves had not approached the court seeking transfer.
Following the dismissal, Mufti appealed to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, his government, and Members of Parliament from Jammu and Kashmir, including Ruhullah Mehdi, to intervene. She argued that not all detainees pose security risks and that many could be shifted back to jails within Kashmir. “We will take up this case again and will not abandon these people,” Mufti said.
