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Delhi high court extends stay on Qureshi's transfer

The Delhi high court on Sunday extended the interim stay on Hashim Qureshi's transfer to Jammu and Kashmir till Tuesday, January 2.

On Saturday, Justices Joseph Cyraic and S N Kapoor had heard a petition moved by K T S Tulsi and Vikas Pahwa on Qureshi's behalf challenging his detention by the Delhi police and stayed his transfer to J&K as ordered by duty Magistrate Kamini Lou.

The Delhi police arrested Qureshi -- who hijacked an Indian Airlines Fokker aircraft in 1971 -- soon after he arrived at the Indira Gandhi airport on Friday

Challenging his client's detention, Tulsi argued that Qureshi had been tried and convicted for the hijack in Pakistan and had spent nine years in jail there, hence his detention was illegal.

The judges said they wanted to hear the case as soon as possible as they did not want to see Qureshi stay in jail if his detention is illegal. "We have an open mind," the judges said and asked counsel to submit arguments in writing along with past judgments so that the case could be decided one way or the other on Tuesday.

The judges wanted to know under what sections Qureshi had been tried by the special court in Pakistan and if the same provisions were applicable under the Indian Penal Code. They also wanted to know from the State counsel whether the Ranbir Penal Code is similar to the IPC. The RPC is applicable in Jammu and Kashmir.

Mohammad Aslam, Qureshi's brother who was present at the hearing, refused to comment on the proceedings, saying it was a legal battle and he would rather not say anything. Asked if he were aware of the petition filed on his brother's behalf, Aslam said he had no clue about what transpired in court on Saturday. He added that he had learnt about the stay on Qureshi's transfer only in the morning from the news bulletins. "We would like to see him in Srinagar as early as possible. He has said even if he is hanged, he should be buried in Srinagar. My 75-year-old father Mohammad Khalid Qureshi is eagerly waiting to meet his son," Aslam said.

PTI adds:

Meanwhile, the radical militant outfit, the Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, has termed Qureshi's surrender 'an act of treason' and threatened to 'take him to task.'

'Qureshi's statements that Pakistan is exploiting the sentiments of the people of Kashmir has been taken note of. Pakistan is our sympathiser and militants in Kashmir will fight till the last to make Kashmir part of Pakistan,' the JuM statement, which was published on Sunday morning in Srinagar's newspapers, said.

'While living in Holland, Qureshi had indulged in propaganda against the jihad in Kashmir at India's behest,' the JuM alleged, adding that was the reason why the Indian government had provided him a visa.

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