Srinagar, Sept. 9 -- Shabir Budgam

Speaker of the J&K Legislative Assembly, Abdul Rahim Rather, on Tuesday clarified that the government had neither sought his approval nor consulted the Assembly Secretariat before detaining Doda MLA Mehraj Malik under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA).

Speaking to KNS, Rather said that his role is restricted to being informed of such actions, as per Assembly procedures.

"The rules governing the House clearly state that the Speaker's responsibility is only to communicate such developments to members. In this case, I was informed about Mehraj's detention and relayed the information to the legislators. There was no consultation, nor was my approval required for the order issued by the District Commis...