Farooq Abdullah's Detention Under Law Cleared By His Father

Farooq Abdullah's home in Srinagar is likely to be declared a "jail"

Farooq Abdullah, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, has been charged under the Public Safety Act (PSA), which allows arrest or detention for up to two years without trial. In an irony, he is at the receiving end of the same law that was cleared by his father and former Chief Minister Sheikh Abdullah in the 1970s.

Farooq Abdullah, 83, has been under house arrest since August 5, when the government declared two big moves on Jammu and Kashmir - ending special status under Article 370 and splitting it into two union territories.

Alongside the epic decisions, the government imposed a massive security clampdown in the state, which including the arrest or detention of hundreds of politicians in Jammu and Kashmir, including Mr Abdullah's son Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, both former chief ministers.

Mr Abdullah, the Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, has been charged under a section of the law that deals with public disorder, which means detention for three months upto a year without trial. His home in Srinagar is likely to be declared a "jail" for this.

The PSA was brought in as a tough law to prevent the smuggling of timber. It allows the government to detain any person above 16 without trial for two years. In 2011, the minimum age was raised from 16 to 18.

Over the decades, it came to be used against terrorists, separatists and stone-throwers. In 2016, during the protests that engulfed the Kashmir Valley following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani, more than 550 people were detained under the PSA.

For the first time since security measures were imposed after the Article 370 decision last month, a mainstream politician - an MP as well as three-time chief minister - has been booked under the PSA.

The orders to detain an individual under the PSA can be issued by a District Magistrate or a Divisional Commissioner.