Mehraj Malik, lone AAP MLA in Jammu and Kashmir, arrested under PSA

This is the first time a legislator has been booked under the controversial law

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Monday invoked the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Mehraj Malik. This is the first time an MLA has been arrested under the controversial law that allows imprisonment without formal charges or trial for up to two years. 

Malik, who represents the Doda constituency, was detained earlier in the day after a case was registered against him for allegedly using abusive language against the Deputy Commissioner. Several videos circulating on social media purportedly show the 36-year-old legislator verbally abusing the officer.

A senior official confirmed the development, saying the MLA has been arrested under the PSA and is being shifted to a jail. The police have also reportedly registered a case against Malik and five of his supporters for theft of hospital equipment.

Sources said the FIR, numbered 90/2025, was lodged at the Gandoh Police Station under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita after the Block Medical Officer (BMO) Thathri filed a complaint accusing them of stealing medical equipment and other belongings and obstructing public servants during the shifting of an AAM health centre at Kencha in Block Thathri.

This is not Malik’s first brush with the law. In May this year, he was booked following a complaint by Madhu Chib, associate professor and head of Gynaecology and Obstetrics at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Doda. He was charged under sections 356 (criminal intimidation), 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), and 351 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the BNS.

The move against Malik is unprecedented in Jammu and Kashmir’s political landscape. While the PSA has been frequently invoked against separatist leaders, political activists, and suspected militants, this is the first time it has been applied to a legislator. In the 2024 Assembly elections, Malik pulled off a surprise victory in Doda, defeating his BJP rival by a margin of 4,538 votes and giving the AAP its first-ever legislative seat in the Union Territory.

J&K spokesperson of the AAP Mudasir Hassan, while condemning the arrest of Malik, said, “This is nothing but an attempt to suppress the voice of the people and silence genuine democratic and public concerns raised by our leader. Such undemocratic actions reflect bureaucratic arrogance, which the people of Jammu & Kashmir will never accept. "We call upon the administration to immediately withdraw the FIR, release him, and stop intimidating leaders who raise the voice of the poor and marginalised," he demanded.