Ad hoc Chairman of J&K High Court Bar Council on PSA grounds | India News – Times of India

SRINAGAR: Senior advocate and ad hoc president of the J&K High Court Bar Association (HCBA) Nazir Ahmad Ronga was arrested on Thursday morning at his home in Nishat district in Srinagaraccording to his family. He was charged under the Public Safety Act (PSA), which allows authorities to cling someone who is held without trial for a maximum of one year.
“At 1.10 am, a contingent of J&K police arrived at our house without any warning. to arrest “The warrant, which simply states: ‘It is an order from above’ (“uper se order hai”). We have been left in shock and deep distress…,” his lawyer son Umair Ronga posted on X. He also posted two videos showing uniformed personnel taking his father away.
Ronga, 75, is a member of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s Awami Action Committee, a unit of the separatist Hurriyat Conference. Ronga, a former president of the bar association, is the second ex-president to be arrested after Mian Abdul Qayoom Bhat was arrested on June 25 for an alleged conspiracy that led to the deadly terror attack on lawyer Babar Qadri in 2020.
Bhat, now in his late 70s, was the author of the constitution of the Syed Ali Shah Geelani faction of the Hurriyat Conference in 1993. His son-in-law Javed Iqbal Wani is a serving HC judge. Bhat has been in and out of jail several times.
Ronga’s family said he has been shifted to Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu, about 250 km from Srinagar. The government has not released a statement about his arrest. In October 2021, police searched Ronga’s house in cases allegedly involving his son, following allegations of irregularities at three private companies registered in his name.
Ronga’s arrest came a day after the Bar issued a notification for elections of officials. The J&K administration had not allowed HCBA to hold elections for the past five years due to the pandemic and fear of law and order situation. In 2020, the then Srinagar District Magistrate had sought an explanation from the Bar regarding the Constitution.
In July this year, HCBA removed the section from its constitution that called for “working towards a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute.” The bar was now gearing up for elections before July 31.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq condemned Ronga’s arrest: “To arrest him in such a manner, in the middle of the night, even without a warrant, is very unfortunate. Moreover, Ronga sahab is an elderly person and he is not well.”
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti criticized the arrest. “…GOI (Government of India) has not only failed to put an end to militancy but has also expressed its frustration by launching a brutal crackdown on helpless Kashmiris. Nazir Ronga is the latest victim of its oppressive actions,” she posted on X.