Srinagar

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti seeking the transfer of prisoners lodged in jails outside the Union Territory back to prisons in Jammu and Kashmir.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal, in a 15-page order passed on Tuesday, observed that the petition appeared to have been filed to garner political mileage.

“It appears that the instant petition has been initiated by the petitioner for the explicit purpose of garnering political advantage and positioning herself as a crusader of justice for a particular demographic,” the bench said.

The court noted that it could not remain oblivious to the violent past endured by the people of Jammu and Kashmir due to forces hostile to the unity and integrity of the country.

The bench pointed out that even the petitioner acknowledged the special circumstances of the region by seeking transfer of undertrials to J-K prisons only in the absence of “unavoidable and compelling necessity”, without specifying what would constitute such exceptional cases.

The court held that a PIL cannot be used to advance partisan or political agendas or to transform the judiciary into a political platform.

“Public Interest Litigation is not a mechanism for gaining political leverage, and courts cannot serve as a forum for electoral campaigns,” the bench said, adding that political parties have other legitimate avenues to engage with the electorate.

Observing that undertrials whose cause was purportedly espoused were facing trial before competent courts, the bench said adequate judicial remedies were available to them to raise grievances regarding their detention.

“The failure to avail such remedies indicates that they are not genuinely aggrieved by their confinement in prisons outside the Union Territory,” the court said.

The high court reiterated that a PIL is maintainable only when a prima facie case of public interest is made out, and where such interest is doubtful or compromised by extraneous considerations, the court must decline interference.

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“In view of the above, the present petition is misconceived and is accordingly dismissed,” the order said.