Outspoken Aam Admi Party MLA from Doda (East), Mehraj Malik, was apprehended by the police on charges of disturbing public order and later detained under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) for at least one year on Monday.
This is the first time that a sitting MLA has been detained under the PSA, an administrative law that allows detention without charge or trial for up to two years in some cases.
Soon after Malik was detained in Doda, the police teams escorted him via Bhaderwah-Bani road link to the district jail in Kathua. Before being shifted to the jail, Malik uploaded a video claiming he was being prevented from meeting people affected by flash floods and torrential rains.
“There are many areas in my constituency which are without road connectivity, ration, and shelter after their homes were damaged, but I am being detained here,” he said.
In New Delhi, AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal slammed the detention of the party’s lone MLA in Jammu and Kashmir, saying he was raising his voice for the rights of people of his constituency. “Is demanding a hospital for the people of your area such a grave crime that an elected MLA has to be thrown in jail for it? Mehraj Malik is the lion of the Aam Aadmi Party,” Kejriwal said in a post on X in Hindi.
For the last few days, Malik was publicly targeting Deputy Commissioner, Doda Harvinder Singh after he allegedly turned down one of his recommendations over the issue of shifting a health sub-centre. Several clips of Mehraj Malik abusing the Deputy Commissioner, Doda, went viral on various social media platforms, following which an FIR was registered against AAP MLA. The district authorities had claimed Malik was trying to influence the administration and resorting to theatrics to allow the sub centre to function in a building built by one of his supporters on state land and pay him the monthly rent.
Malik had earlier locked horns with a senior lady doctor of Government Medical College,Doda in May 2025. A FIR was registered against him in the same matter as well. During the first budget session of the
J&K Assembly, Mehraj Malik had a verbal duel with BJP legislators on the floor of the house over the issue of opening liquor shops in Jammu.
In Doda, people stepped out on the streets to protest against the AAP legislator and accused him of launching a disparaging campaign against the deputy commissioner. In the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls, Malik won the Doda seat by over 4,500 votes, securing AAP’s first-ever victory in the Union territory.