Mehbooba Mufti to challenge J&K HC dismissal of plea for intervention in passport case

Srinagar: After the high court dismissed former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti’s plea for intervention regarding the denial of a passport, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president is planning to challenge the decision.

On Monday, Justice Ali Muhammad Magray dismissed the plea of Mehbooba Mufti in which she had demanded the intervention of the court after the police denied her a passport.

The plea was dismissed after Assistant Solicitor General of India (ASGI) Tahir Majid Shamsi told the court that police had given an adverse verification report regarding the passport.

A senior PDP leader close to Mufti said that she will challenge the decision. “The decision will be challenged and opinion is being sought from legal expert,” he said.

Mufti said that the Centre is undermining the Constitution.

“Under BJPs rule, Indian constitution is being undermined time & again. Only option & recourse left is the judiciary. Once they too decide to wash their hands off matters which involve our fundamental rights where does one go?” tweeted Mehbooba Mufti soon after plea was dismissed.

Mufti was denied a fresh passport after J&K Police’s Criminal Investigative Department (CID) raised concerns that she could possibly issue statements against the Centre during her stay abroad, officials familiar with the development said.

The PDP leader’s passport expired last year in May and both she and her mother Gulshan Nazir had applied for a fresh one in December.

Mufti and her mother were planning to travel to Dubai to attend a family function in May, the officials cited above said. Besides Dubai, there was a possibility that the PDP leader would travel to the United States where her older sister resides, they added.

While refusing clearance (of fresh passport), the officials cited above said, the CID referred to a few statements made by the former chief minister following the revocation of Article 370 and 35A in 2019, and her release from prison last year.

In a letter to Mufti on March 26, the regional passport office had mentioned that the additional director-general of police, J&K CID, had not recommended the issuance of a fresh passport to Mufti.

According to officials, the PDP chief’s passport was rejected by the CID wing after her name popped up during an investigation, suggesting her links with certain “anti-national people”. (Agency)