Srinagar: Former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday welcomed the JK and Ladakh High Court’s ruling that an individual cannot be denied a passport just because a family member was involved in militancy.
She termed the ruling as a “step in the right direction” while strongly criticizing what she described as the weaponization of travel restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir since 2019.
“The honourable High Court’s decision of not denying a passport to an individual for merely being related to a militant is certainly a step in the right direction. Given how even the basic fundamental right to travel is being weaponised brutally since 2019 in J&K,” Mehbooba said in a post on X.
The honourable High Court’s decision of not denying a passport to an individual for merely being related to a militant is certainly a step in the right direction. Given how even the basic fundamental right to travel is being weaponised brutally since 2019 in J&K. There are…
The former Chief Minister alleged that the denial of passports has become a common practice in J&K, affecting not just individuals related to militants but also journalists, students, and job seekers.
“There are countless cases pending in passport offices awaiting clearance from the CID department. Not only are passports denied to such individuals but also journalists, students and also job seekers who despite fulfilling the pre requisites for government positions are also denied jobs only because of a negative report given by CID.
The status of the related militant—whether dead or alive—seems irrelevant. Unfortunately this policy has even been extended to individuals even remote related to Jamaat-e-Islami party members as well,” Mehbooba added.
The High Court of J&K and Ladakh on Tuesday in its ruling, made it clear that a passport cannot be denied to an individual solely because of their sibling’s involvement in militancy. The court emphasized that the decision to issue a passport must be based on the applicant’s own actions rather than those of their relatives.
The High Court direction came in a plea filed by Mohammad Amir Malik, a resident of Ramban, who had filed an application for passport issuance in 2021. However, his application was kept pending due to an adverse police verification report. The Police in its report said that Malik's late brother, Mohammad Ayaz Malik, was a militant of the Hizbul Mujahideen and was killed in an encounter in 2011, while his father was an enlisted over ground worker (OGW).
The petitioner in his plea asserted that there were no criminal charges against him and that he was being unfairly penalized for his family’s past.
The court upheld his plea and directed the Additional Director General of Police, CID to re-submit the report uninfluenced by the conduct or activities of Malik’s brother as well as his father to the Regional Passport Officer within four weeks.
The Court said the Passport Officer shall consider Malik’s case on the report of the ADGP and pass an appropriate order in favour of the petitioner within two weeks thereafter.
