Farooq and Omar Abdullah approached the High Court for the release of 16 party leaders

Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah have approached the Jammu and Kashmir High Court for the release of 16 National Conference leaders detained since August 5 last year. In the petition, the National Conference has termed the house detention of these leaders as illegal. Let us tell you that these leaders were detained at their home last year when the Center had abolished the special status of the state.

A statement issued by the party said that NC Speaker and Lok Sabha member Farooq Abdullah and NC Vice President Omar Abdullah have filed habeas corpus petitions challenging the ‘illegal house detention’ of senior leaders and officials. Former state chief minister Farooq Abdullah has filed a petition for releasing Ali Mohammad Sagar, Abdul Rahim Rather, Nasir Aslam Wani, Aga Syed Mahmood, Mohammad Khalil Bandh, Irrfan Shah and Sahamima Firdaus.

According to the statement, Farooq Abdullah had challenged detention of Mohammed Shafi Uri, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, Chaudhary Mohammad Ramzaan, Mubarak Gul, Dr. Bashir Veeri, Abdul Majeed Larmi, Basharat Bukhari, Saifuddin Bhat Shutru, and Mohammed Shafi.

On behalf of both the leaders, senior advocate Shariq Reyaz has filed the petitions. Party spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said that the decision of the High Court was taken to give relief to the party members. These leaders have been placed in house detention under the Public Safety Act. He said that these leaders were detained at their homes from the heritage centers. We felt that the administration would release these leaders but this was not done. It is illegal to detain these leaders without any administrative order.