J&K’s only AAP MLA is first legislator to be detained under Public Safety Act for a year

Sent to Bhaderwah jail, Malik was named in 18 FIRs and 16 daily diary reports at different police stations in Doda district, officials said. They alleged he was increasingly causing disturbance to public order, especially at a time when the district administration was busy initiating relief measures for people hit by recent heavy rains and flash floods in far off areas of the hilly district.

Malik is accused of attacking officials on duty, locking them inside their offices, and abusing and intimidating them in public, officials said, adding that he is also facing charges of abduction.

The imposition of PSA will not affect his membership in the J&K Legislative Assembly since he has not been convicted in any of the cases registered against him so far.

Recently, a video emerged purportedly showing Malik abusing the Doda Deputy Commissioner, Harvinder Singh, over the issue of shifting a health sub-centre. While Malik alleged his recommendation in the matter was ignored, the DC claimed the MLA wanted the administration to allow the sub-centre to function in a building built by one of his supporters on state land and pay him monthly rent.

In May, police registered an FIR against him for allegedly using objectionable language for a woman doctor at Doda Government Medical College. The doctor had accused Malik of using social media platforms to issue threats and level “abusive, gendered and derogatory remarks” against her.

During the first budget session of the J&K Legislative Assembly, Malik had a duel with BJP legislators after he accused them of remaining silent about the opening of a large number of liquor shops in Jammu.

Mali was elected as an MLA from Doda during the 2024 assembly elections after he defeated his BJP rival, Gajay Singh, by 4,538 votes, giving AAP its maiden entry in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.

Before this, he was elected as a member of the Doda District Development Council from Kahara during the maiden DDC elections held in Jammu and Kashmir in 2020. After his election to the Legislative Assembly, he resigned from the DDC.

The 36-year-old postgraduate from Jammu also contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as an Independent in the Udhampur parliamentary constituency, but finished fourth. Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh was declared the winner.

Malik joined the AAP in 2013, and as per his declaration in the affidavit submitted to the Election Commission, had nearly half a dozen police FIRs registered against him in cases ranging from criminal intimidation to house trespass to promoting enmity between groups between 2021 and 2024.

He is known to raise local issues such as drinking water, electricity, medical facilities, education infrastructure and absenteeism in government offices. He was appointed co-chairman of the AAP’s state coordination committee in 2022.