PIL ‘not a political platform’: HC dismisses Mehbooba Mufti’s plea, flags bid to project herself as ‘crusader of justice’

Srinagar, Dec 23: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has dismissed a PIL filed by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, holding that the plea was “vague,” lacked factual foundation, and appeared driven by “extraneous considerations” rather than demonstrable public interest .

The division bench of Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal declined to entertain Mufti’s petition seeking the repatriation of undertrial prisoners from jails outside Jammu and Kashmir, observing that public interest litigation “cannot be allowed to be utilised as an instrument for advancing partisan or political agendas” and that courts “cannot serve as a forum for electoral campaigns” .

Mufti’s plea, as per news agency Kashmir Dot Com (KDC), sought sweeping directions to the Union government and the J&K administration to immediately transfer all undertrial prisoners belonging to the Union Territory from prisons outside J&K, unless authorities could demonstrate “unavoidable and compelling necessity.”

The petition also sought a mandatory access protocol guaranteeing weekly family visits, unrestricted lawyer-client interviews, reimbursement of travel expenses for families, and the creation of a two-member oversight committee to audit prison transfers and compliance.

However, the court recorded that the petition rested on “general and vague averments,” noting that while the petitioner claimed that “a lot of family members of undertrials” had approached her, she failed to identify even a single undertrial prisoner, the nature of the cases involved, or the specific transfer orders being challenged.

The bench according to Kashmir Dot Com observed that detention of undertrials outside the Union Territory was not a routine or universal practice, but was based on “individual orders issued by the competent authority in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case.” In the absence of any such orders being placed on record, the court held that the petition sought “omnibus directions” that were legally impermissible .

In one of its sharper observations, the court noted that Mufti was not an ordinary litigant but the president of a prominent political party currently in opposition. Against that backdrop, the bench stated that the petition appeared to be an attempt to “garner political advantage” and to project the petitioner as a “crusader of justice for a particular demographic,” a course the court said was incompatible with the purpose of PIL jurisdiction .

The judgment repeatedly drew from Supreme Court precedents cautioning against the misuse of PILs, reiterating that such litigation must not degenerate into what the apex court has described as “politics interest litigation,” “publicity interest litigation,” or proceedings motivated by “oblique considerations.” The High Court stressed that it was duty-bound to scrutinize the credentials, motive, and locus standi of a petitioner before exercising its extraordinary writ jurisdiction .

The bench also pointed out that undertrial prisoners had well-established legal remedies available to them, including the right to approach courts individually and access to a “robust legal aid framework” under the Legal Services Authorities Act. The fact that none of the allegedly affected undertrials had approached the court—either directly or through legal aid mechanisms—was cited as a key factor undermining the petitioner’s claim of acting in public interest .

Referring to Jammu and Kashmir’s “violent past” and security challenges, the court observed that the petitioner herself had acknowledged the existence of “exceptional cases” warranting detention outside the Union Territory. However, it noted that the petition conspicuously failed to identify or substantiate any such cases, while simultaneously seeking blanket relief .

On broader prison conditions, the High Court referred to earlier Supreme Court rulings addressing overcrowding and inmate welfare, observing that institutional safeguards and monitoring mechanisms were already in place to address general grievances related to prisons and undertrial rights .

Concluding the judgment, the bench held that a PIL was maintainable only when a prima facie case of genuine public interest was established. Where such interest was “in doubt or compromised by extraneous considerations,” the court said it was obligated to decline interference, adding that preventing abuse of the judicial process was itself a matter of “significant public interest” .

The petition was accordingly dismissed in its entirety, with the court drawing a firm line on the limits of public interest litigation and reiterating that constitutional courts would not allow their processes to be used for political messaging cloaked as public causes.