Advocate Appu Singh, one of the lawyers representing Malik, told ET that the court set aside the detention order issued under PSA after hearing a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention.
J&K CM Omar Abdullah said he hoped those responsible for Malik’s detention would learn a valuable lesson from the court’s decision and reflect on how such laws are being misused in the region. “He should never have been detained under the PSA, in fact, he should never have been detained at all. His detention was a gross misuse of this law and totally unjustified.”
Malik, who represents the Doda constituency, was booked and arrested under PSA in September 2025. The detention came within days of his criticism of the then Doda district magistrate Harvinder Singh, alleging that the officer was “misusing his authority and the law to target the poor”, referring to the issue of unpaid rent for a government dispensary. The AAP MLA had raised the matter in public meetings and during live interactions on social media platforms. The DM subsequently issued the PSA order, stating that Malik’s activities were prejudicial to maintaining public order.
Justice Muhammad Yousuf Wani said “the invocation of the provisions of the PSA to detain the petitioner, rather than pursuing prosecution against him, appears to be an unjustified exercise tantamount to a violation of the petitioner’s fundamental rights.”
