Jammu and Kashmir’s Information and Public Relations Department has issued a notice to The Chenab Times after the news publication’s report on the detention of an environmental activist under the Public Safety Act, reported The Indian Express on Tuesday.

Every year, hundreds of individuals in Jammu and Kashmir are detained under the Public Safety Act, which allows the authorities to jail a person considered a threat to the “security of the state” without trial for up to two years.

In the notice, the department alleged that the report “pitches elected representatives against the administration” and “puts the administrative procedure in a bad light.” The portal has been warned of action if it does not “explain [its] position.”

The video’s “tone and content” sympathised with the detainee, said the notice.

On November 10, Doda district authorities detained activist Rehmatullah Padder under the Public Safety Act, accusing him of being an overground worker and citing five first information reports against him.

According to the Indian security forces, an overground worker is a person who assists militants with logistical support and infrastructure such as cash and shelter, thereby facilitating their operations.

Padder’s family and supporters claim he was targeted for exposing alleged corruption in a sewage treatment project.

Doda MLA Mehraj Malik had criticised Padder’s detention and called it politically motivated. “This young man is detained under PSA today; yesterday he raised questions on district administration for their failure,” Malik wrote on X, demanding a judicial probe into the matter.

The district administration denied the allegations and stated that Padder’s detention was legal. “Request to general public/prominent citizens and elected representatives not to be misguided,” the administration said in a statement.

The Chenab Times linked the administration’s clarification to Malik’s comments. District Information Officer Nasir Khan, who notified the portal, told The Indian Express that “journalism should be ethical and peaceful”.

“How can someone criticise the administration?” Khan asked.

When asked about the notice, Khan said he was following orders from his superiors. Doda Deputy Commissioner Harvinder Singh, who ordered Padder’s detention, dismissed the controversy, calling it “15-day-old news” and attributing the outcry over his detention to “vested interests.”