Explained: What the dossiers on Mehbooba, Omar Abdullah mean

New Delhi, Feb 10: The government has cited a dossier while slapping the Public Safety Act on two former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.

The PSA embed the authorities to detain any person who is acting in a manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order and it is known as the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act of 1978.

What the dossier on Omar states:

A dossier prepared by the police on Omar Abdullah says that the capacity of the subject to influence the people for any cause can be gauged from the fact that he was able to convince the electorate to come out and vote in huge numbers even during the peak of militancy and poll boycotts.

The dossier accused Abdullah of trying to stoke public anger to trigger violent protests. Despite the fact that the subject has been a mainstream politician, he has been planning activities against the Union of India under the guise of politics. While enjoying the support of gullible masses, he has been successful in execution of such activities, the dossier also says.

In the aftermath of Article 370 being abrogated, Abdullah removed all covers/curtains and while resorting to dirty politics adopted a radical methodology by way of instigating general makes against the policies of the Central Government, the dossier further reads.

The dossier on Mehbooba:

On Mehbooba, the dossier said that the subject is recognised as a hot-headed scheming person known for dangerous and insidious machinations. She has been promoting separatism as corroborated by several confidential reports filed by the intelligence agencies.

The dossier also says that Mehbooba refused to sign a bond stating that she will not talk about the scrapping of Article 370.

What the Act states:

An individual can be detained if he or she is found to be promoting, propagating or attempting to create feelings of enmity or hatred or disharmony on the grounds of religion, caste, community or race. A person can be detained under PSA if he or she is involved in making preparations or instigating or inciting or provoking people to disrupt public order.

A person shall be informed about the grounds on which the order was made. However, in exceptional circumstances, the authorities can take up to ten days to explain the grounds. However, the act says, nothing in subsection (1) shall require the authority to disclose facts which it considers to be against the public interest to disclose.

The maximum period of detention is 12 months and 24 months. The 12-month detention is for persons acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order or timber smuggling. In case a person is acting in a manner prejudicial to the security of the state, then the detention period is 24 months.