J-K: Mehbooba Mufti moves HC to seek repatriation for undertrial prisoners, next hearing on Nov 18

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], November 4 (ANI): Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (JKPDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti moved to the High Court to seek repatriation for undertrial prisoners lodged in the Union Territory.
The two-judge bench of Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal heard the matter on November 3 and adjourned the case for the next hearing on November 18.
"Having argued the matter at some length, learned counsel for the petitioner prays for further time to prepare and argue the petition. Adjourned to November 18, 2025," the court order read.
Sharing an X post, Mehbooba Mufti said that after the National Conference government in Jammu and Kashmir did not take any action in the case of undertrial prisoners, moving to the High Court was the only recourse left for her.
She wrote, "We waited, hoping that in the past year, since an elected government came into being, the National Conference would take action on the issue of undertrial prisoners lodged in jails outside Jammu & Kashmir. PDP even brought a resolution into the assembly advocating for this cause, but unfortunately, it was rejected. After exhausting every other option, the only recourse left was to approach the Hon'ble High Court on behalf of these prisoners languishing in jails alien to their homes and Kashmir."
She said that the 'process is punishment' for the prisoners, as the majority of them hail from poor families.
"The process itself has become punishment as they have yet to be proven guilty. The majority of these undertrials hail from poor families lacking the wherewithal to defend themselves while being so far from their loved ones. I sincerely hope justice prevails," Mufti wrote.
Mehbooba Mufti has been raising the issue and also held protests in Srinagar in August to demand the release of the prisoners jailed under the UAPA, raising the slogan "Bail, not jail".
Speaking to reporters after her protest in August, she said, "We wanted to hold a protest today for the innocent people jailed in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere, especially those whose parents are not capable enough of fighting a case. We wanted to demand that Omar Abdullah speak to the Home Minister."
The PDP chief said that if the prisoners cannot be released, they should be jailed locally, in Jammu and Kashmir, as their families suffer while fighting their cases in the courts.
"If the innocent cannot be released, they should at least be jailed in the Jammu and Kashmir... Poor people cannot go to court. Who looks after them when they are ill? Who would listen to them? This is not about politics; it is about humanity," she said. (ANI)