Mehbooba Mufti Questions Rejection of Waheed Parra’s Bail, Cites Disha Ravi Judgment
Srinagar, Feb 24, KNT: Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday criticised the rejection of bail to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Waheed Parra, drawing a comparison with the recent court order granting relief to climate activist Disha Ravi.
The remarks came a day after a special court rejected Parra’s bail application in a militancy-related case.
The development has triggered political reactions, with the PDP leadership alleging inconsistency in judicial approach to bail while courts maintain that the decision was based on the seriousness of the charges and the evidence examined during the proceedings.
According to the court order, the bail plea was rejected on the grounds that the allegations against Parra were “grave, serious and heinous in nature.” The court also observed that a preliminary assessment of the material collected during investigation indicated that he was allegedly aiding militancy in Jammu and Kashmir under the guise of political activity.
Responding to the decision, Mehbooba Mufti took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and expressed concern over what she described as a worrying trend in the criminal justice system.
“Worrying trend that bail is no more the rule but an exception and an accused is assumed to be guilty without proof,” Mufti wrote.
She said the recent judgment in the case of Disha Ravi, where a Delhi court had observed that mere allegations do not amount to a crime, stood in contrast with the decision to deny bail to Parra.
Mufti further said that undertrials are increasingly spending months or even years in custody before charges are proven in court.
Waheed Parra had earlier been arrested by the National Investigation Agency on November 25 in connection with a militancy-related case.
He was later granted bail by an NIA court but was subsequently taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department Kashmir and brought from Jammu on transit remand on January 9.
Police investigations in the case are ongoing and further legal proceedings are expected. [KNT]
