Srinagar: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has admitted a writ petition asking the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to ensure consular access to a Kashmiri engineer who has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for over four years.
The family claims that Soura resident Abdul Rafi Baba has been imprisoned on false charges. He had left for Saudi Arabia 10 years ago where he was employed at King Faisal University.
Justice Rahul Bharti directed filing of a status report on the case before the next hearing on March 4. On Monday, Rafi’s family approached the court seeking protection of his liberty and legal assistance.
On March 1, 2020, Abdul Rafi was arrested by Saudi authorities from his workplace, his father said, adding that his arrest was linked to internal disputes within his company and that he had been falsely implicated.
The family has sought his release. The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA), which sought urgent intervention of MEA for his repatriation, has said that it has been informed that the consular access has been granted multiple times, with visits conducted on May 3, 2021, September 6, 2022, February 20, 2023, September 5, 2023, and recently on September 11, 2024
