STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Even before setting up the 5-member Medical Board to carry out the medical examination of accused involved in sacrilegious act at Aap Shambu temple in Upper Roop Nagar area of Jammu on June 14, the State Home Department, in its letter dated June 23, had communicated its decision to the District Magistrate, Jammu that his decision of slapping Public Safety Act (PSA) on Yasir Alfaz has not been approved as the grounds of detention were not found justified.
A letter of the State Home Department accessed by the STATE TIMES clearly exposes the blue-print readied by the State Government to bail out the accused involved in desecration of famous temple in Roop Nagar area even before receiving conclusive report of medical examination.
This letter bomb was dropped by the State Government around the same time on June 23 when senior PDP minister Syed Basharat Ahmad Bukhari was trying to cool down the tempers of the agitated legislators on the floor of the House claiming that Government will look into the matter of slapping of Public Safety Act (PSA) on a youth in Jammu if it is proved that he suffers from any kind of psychiatric problems.
Bukhari was forced to make a statement after some of the ruling party legislators and even alliance partners exchanged hot words over the circumstances under which PSA was slapped and efforts were made to revoke the same.
Ironically, at the same time District Magistrate, Jammu had shot off letter to the Principal Government Medical College Hospital, Jammu to constitute a Medical Board to carry out medical examination of the accused to determine his mental health. The schedule fixed by the Principal GMC could not materialise as the government had a sudden change of heart and decided to recast the board and deferred the medical examination.
Now the question arises if none of the Medical Board members including Psychiatrists have examined Yasir Alfaz so far how can the State Home Department made an assessment on June 23 that the PSA was slapped on a ‘lunatic patient’ and it was to be revoked.
In its own letter the Home department makes specific mention of reports claiming it has been widely reported that the subject is suffering from Psychiatric disorder and even as per the preliminary investigations conducted in the case suggested that the subject Yasir Alfaz is a lunatic patient.
There were reports published in the local and national news papers which had exposed the claims made by the police authorities that the accused was a lunatic patient and reached the temple after consulting Psychiatric. On the contrary the senior psychiatrist had denied claims by the police that he had examined the accused before he vandalised the temple premises.
Even till date the accused has not been examined by the five member panel reconstituted by the Principal Government Medical college hospital Dr Zahid H Gillani. But in a letter to the District Magistrate Special Secretary to Government, Home Department has claimed verification of this aspect (whether the accused is a lunatic patient) has neither been indicated in the dossier of SSP Jammu nor in the grounds of detention. Even before slapping PSA District Magistrate had not made mention of the fact that the accused was already under police custody nor the compelling reasons were indicated for passing a detention order.
