HC to hear Bar PIL against provisions of PSA on Wed

Srinagar: A division of Jammu and Kashmir High Court is likely to hear on Wednesday a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by Bar Association, challenging certain provisions of Public Safety Act, a member of the lawyers’ body told.
In its PIL, the Bar besides challenging the orders has also sought better living conditions and redressal of grievances of the prisoners’ lodged in jails and interrogation centers in Jammu and Kashmir.In the petition, the Bar association has prayed that Section 9 of the PSA relating to lodgment of a detenue  at any place and also the  provisions of J&K  Detenue (General ) Order, 1968 with regard to interview of a detenue  with his family  members  and friends  once in a fortnight, be declared null and void.According to the PIL, the main grievance of the detenues lodged in the jails under PSA is that their cases are not decided promptly once challenged even as High Court has framed Case Flow Management Rules, 2009. The rules provide that a habeas corpus writ petition be disposed off within 15 days.  “The detenues grievance is that after hearing arguments in the detention cases, judgments are reserved and announced only after months, which is contrary to the very concept of life and liberty of an individual as enshrined in the Constitution,” reads the PIL.In the PIL, the bar has also accused authorities for “misusing” their power and authority in lodging a person detained under PSA while maintaining that the detenues are not being produced before the Advisory Boards. The Bar has also held that when a person is booked under PSA, he or she be kept in a jail, which is nearer his place of residence as laid down by the Supreme Court. Besides lawyers have also sought intervention of court to end “inhumane and barbaric” treatment meted to detainees, under trials and convicts in jails.