Shah Faesal moves HC challenging his detention at Delhi airport

New Delhi, Aug 19: Detained Kashmiri leader Shah Faesal on Monday moved Delhi High Court challenging his detention. The high court has sought response from Centre and fixed August 23 as the next date of hearing.

Faesal was arrested at Delhi while trying to leave the countey. He has been placed under house arrest.

The matter came up for hearing before a bench of Justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal, which did not issue notice in the matter after the central government, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, said it will file a response to the habeas corpus petition, moved on behalf of Faesal by a ''pariorkar'' or next of friend Mohd Hussain Cader.

A habeas corpus plea requires a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or a court.

Faesal was on his way to Harvard University in the US for higher studies when he was illegally detained at the Delhi airport under the Public Safety Act (PSA).

The plea alleges that the manner in which he was "whisked away" to Kashmir without even a transit remand amounts to "abduction".

The petition has contended that he was scheduled to travel to Boston, USA, via Istanbul and Frankfurt when he was detained at Delhi airport.

It said he was travelling to the US to complete his course in Master in Public Administration when he was "illegally picked up" from Indira Gandhi International Airport.

The ex-civil servant had opposed the government's decision to revoke special status to Jammu and Kashmir calling in a 'catastrophic turn in our collective history.'

Earlier this year, Faesal had resigned from the IAS and started his party J&K People's Movement. Faesal had made the headlines when he became the first Kashmiri to top the IAS examination in 2009.

The Narendra Modi-led government had on August 5 abrogated Article 370, the temporary provision that provided a special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The government also announced that Jammu and Kashmir would be split into 2 Union territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.