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J&K approves amendments to Public Safety Act by Shujaat Bukhari

Act had been criticised for infringing on civil liberties, being arbitrary
 
The Jammu and Kashmir government has approved amendments in the Public Safety Act (PSA), which had come under criticism for being arbitrary and infringing upon the civil liberties of the people.

Official sources said that the amendments were approved during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here on Wednesday. The amendment Bill, sources said, would prevent the slapping of the PSA on below 18-year-old State subjects. “At present, the PSA means two years imprisonment without any trial. According to the new law, the imprisonment period has been fixed for just three months. The detention, however, would be subject to review and can be extended from three months to six months,” sources said. However, the detention period for timber smugglers would be one year. “For militants, the period will be six months. The law will not be applicable to foreigners,” they said.

The government had set up a committee to examine the PSA for making possible amendments. Sources said that the new law also paved the way for a regular review of cases. “The review of cases will take place after three months, six months and one year,” they said.

The PSA was enacted in 1978 by the then government, headed by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. However, used excessively during the last 21 years of turmoil in the State, it had been criticised for being arbitrary. Amnesty International, in a recent report termed it a “Lawless Law” and called for its withdrawal.

In another development, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has asked the government to reopen the 20-year-old case relating to the alleged gang rape of 31 women by Army personnel in Kunan and Poshpora villages of Kupwara district.

The decision was announced here on Wednesday by the Division Bench of the SHRC, which comprised Chairman Justice (Retired) Syed Bashiruddin and member Javed Kawoos. The Bench asked the government to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to reinvestigate the alleged gang rape in 1991. The women had alleged that they were gang-raped by Army personnel during the intervening night of February 23 and 24, leading to unprecedented outrage in the Valley.

“The SIT should be headed by an officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police,” a senior official at the Commission quoted the Bench as saying. It also asked the government to prosecute the then Director of Prosecution, who had sought closure of the case as the perpetrators were “untraceable”.

“The then Director of Prosecution had overstepped his brief... Prosecution proceedings should be initiated against him and those officers who had approved his report,” said the Bench.

The then Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Wajahat Habibullah, who visited the villages following the allegations, had filed a confidential report in the same year about the incident.

A team from the Press Council of India had, however, claimed that “such a delayed medical examination proves nothing” and that the medical findings were typical among villagers. The PCI team had visited the area in June that year on the request of the Army.

The team concluded that the charges against the Army were a “well-concocted bundle of fabricated lies” and “a massive hoax orchestrated by militant groups and their sympathisers and mentors in Kashmir and abroad”.