Srinagar, Dec 24 : The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti seeking the transfer of prisoners and undertrial detainees from jails outside the Union Territory to prisons in J&K and reimbursement of travel and boarding expenses incurred by their families.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal declined to entertain the petition, observing that public interest litigation cannot be used to advance political or partisan agendas.
The bench remarked that courts “cannot serve as a forum for electoral campaigns” and described the plea as a case of “Political Interest Litigation” or “Publicity Interest Litigation”, rather than a genuine public interest matter.
The court noted that Mufti had sought omnibus directions without placing on record any specific transfer orders for judicial scrutiny. “The petitioner’s request for omnibus directions is legally unsustainable, particularly as no specific transfer orders have been challenged or even brought on record for the Court’s consideration,” the bench observed.
It further pointed out that none of the affected prisoners or undertrials had approached the court or raised any grievance regarding their transfer to prisons outside Jammu and Kashmir.
“In the absence of any grievance from the affected undertrials, the petitioner remains a third-party stranger to the cause and has no locus standi to invoke the Court’s jurisdiction,” the bench said.
Accordingly, the High Court dismissed the petition, reiterating that PIL jurisdiction must be exercised with caution and cannot be permitted to be misused for political purposes.(KNS).
