The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on Tuesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by PDP chief and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti seeking the transfer of undertrial prisoners lodged in jails outside the Union Territory back to Jammu and Kashmir.
According to a report from Srinagar, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal termed the petition “misconceived” and observed that courts cannot be used as instruments for political or electoral gain. The court described the plea as vague, lacking factual foundation and apparently driven by an attempt to project political advantage.
Mufti had approached the court claiming that families of several Kashmiri undertrials had urged her to raise the issue of their detention in prisons outside J&K. However, the bench noted that the petition failed to identify any such family or specify the undertrial prisoners whose cause was being represented.
The court also pointed out that no specific transfer orders had been challenged or placed on record. It said the undertrials concerned had themselves not raised any grievance regarding their transfer, and therefore the petitioner, as a third party, had no locus standi to invoke the court’s jurisdiction.
Observing that the plea was based on incomplete and unsubstantiated facts, the bench said the petition carried clear political overtones. It noted that Mehbooba Mufti is the president of a prominent political party currently in opposition and appeared to have approached the court to position herself as a champion of a particular section.
The court reiterated that Public Interest Litigation cannot be used to advance partisan agendas or convert courts into political platforms. “PIL is also not a mechanism for gaining political leverage, and the Courts cannot serve as a forum for electoral campaigns. While political parties possess manifold legitimate avenues to engage with the electorate, courts cannot be employed as an instrument for achieving electoral advantage,” the bench stated.
