Home Minister Rajnath Singh speaking on Masarat Alam in the Rajya Sabha
The government has directed Jammu and Kashmir to challenge bail granted to separatist Masarat Alam Bhat, whose release from prison last week has ignited a political row. An advisory from the home ministry also asks the state government to keep close surveillance on the hardliner and his associates.
"All 27 cases against Alam should be rigorously pursued and the government should take steps to challenge bail to him in those cases," Home Minister Rajnath Singh said today in Parliament, where opposition parties have attacked his government on the separatist's release.
He added that the state must ensure surveillance on Alam "in close tandem with the Centre."
The advisory follows days of political sparring over the release of Masarat Alam, the man behind stone-throwing protests across the Kashmir Valley in 2010.
Alam had been granted bail in all 27 cases against him but had been kept in jail under the Public Safety Act, which allows detention for up to two years without trial.
His last detention order in September lapsed as it was not confirmed within 12 days by the state administration. The Jammu and Kashmir government, led by the People's Democratic Alliance in alliance with the BJP, told the Centre that there were no fresh grounds to keep Alam in jail.
Letters exclusively accessed by NDTV show that the process of Alam's release was initiated in February - before the PDP-BJP government came to power - after the state home department pointed out that the detention order had lapsed.
The Jammu and Kashmir government reportedly told the Centre that a decision on Alam's detention and release was delayed by the floods in September and the state elections.
The Centre has denied opposition allegations that it was privy to the decision to free the separatist and did not stop it. It has blamed its ally PDP of taking the step without consulting the Centre.