4 min readJammuApr 28, 2026 12:55 PM IST
The AAP’s lone MLA in Jammu and Kashmir, Mehraj Malik, walked out of Kathua jail on Tuesday morning, a day after the J&K and Ladakh High Court quashed his September 8, 2025, detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA).
After coming out of jail following the completion of legal formalities for his release, the MLA from Doda said there has been no change in his ideology after eight months in detention. Referring to his preventive detention under the PSA, he said that he would not have been in jail if he had not been a common man. “It irks some people when a common man enters the political arena and wants to do some work,” he said.
When he came out of jail, he was greeted by a beating of drums and slogans raised by a large number of supporters who had gathered.
The High Court had on Monday set aside his detention, observing that allegations which fall within the realm of “ordinary law and order” could not be stretched to justify preventive detention under the garb of “public order”. Justice Mohammad Yousuf Wani held that there is a clear distinction between “law and order” and “public order”, and observed that “every breach of law does not automatically become a ground for detention under preventive laws”.
Malik was detained under the PSA for a period of one year on September 8, following orders from the then Doda District Magistrate, Harvinder Singh, who said that his activities were prejudicial to the maintenance of public order. Issuing the detention order, the DM had referred to a police dossier citing 18 FIRs and 16 DDRs registered/recorded against him from 2014 to 2025, besides reports of the Executive Magistrate and other material.
Since then, Malik, 37, has been detained in Kathua jail.
His father, Shamas Din, challenged the detention in court, alleging that the PSA order was “arbitrary”, “politically motivated”, and an “abuse of preventive detention powers”.
The respondents defended the detention, contending that Malik’s conduct had the tendency to disturb public order and that the order had been passed after considering a police dossier, the Executive Magistrate’s report and other inputs.
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After hearing both sides, the court held that the allegations against Malik were presently under investigation or trial before competent authorities/courts, and there was no sufficient apprehension to show that he was likely to act in a manner prejudicial to public order.
Mehraj Malik was the first sitting MLA in Jammu and Kashmir to have been detained under the PSA.
Speaking to reporters after his release on Tuesday, Malik also expressed concern over rampant unemployment in J&K and called on the people to come out to ensure a better future for their children. He also referred to the 100-day “Nasha Mukti Abhiyan” launched by the Lt Governor’s administration, saying the real problem was unemployment among youth.
“I went to the Assembly to bring reforms (in the system), but the people who have power, they do not have any policy,” he said.
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“When one person comes out and wants to do some work, these people (in the administration) portray him as mad,” he said.
He also took a dig at those creating a religious divide, saying that “some people do not believe in religion, but they fight in the name of religion. If there is religion, then learn to follow it, and no religion asks to work against humanity,” he said.
