The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Tuesday granted significant relief to PDP youth leader and current MLA of Pulwama Waheed Parra by revoking a travel restriction imposed almost four years ago.
A bench led by Justices Vinod Chatterji and Sanjeev Kumar ruled that Parra can now travel within the country after informing the trial court in advance about his itinerary and purpose of travel.
The ruling came after Parra had filed a petition seeking relaxation in the restriction imposed on the leader in 2022.
Parra was granted bail by a division bench in 2022 after Rs 1 lakh was deposited, with directions that he would appear in court whenever required. He was also told to surrender his passport and stay in Jammu and Kashmir until his name is cleared of the charges.
His counsel, Advocate Shariq J Reyaz, informed the court that he was an elected representative and needed to travel outside of the UT for political and personal matters. The counsel representing Parra further said the imposed travel restriction was not allowing Parra to perform his duties.
After hearing the arguments of both sides, the high court found valid reasons to revoke the domestic travel ban on Parra with conditions attached. Parra was apprehended after his name allegedly surfaced during an NIA investigation in 2020, in which he was accused of supporting anti-India forces. Parra and the PDP have described the charges as politically motivated and invalid.
Meanwhile, in a 2022 ruling, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court said the evidence produced against the PDP leader was reasonably too weak to be used against him as legally valid proof.
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