MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and former government minister Javed Butt has strongly criticised the administration for forcibly recovering a government vehicle from him.
Authorities said that Assistant Commissioner Muzaffarabad recovered the official vehicle illegally retained by Javed Butt last night, which was later deposited in the transport pool.
Speaking during the assembly session today, Butt said that the administration treated me like a terrorist despite being part of the government.
“If this attitude can be adopted towards me, what will happen to ordinary citizens?” he questioned.
Javed Butt said that the incident occurred when he was having dinner last night, and his son was called. “When he went to the car, five armed personnel stopped my son at gunpoint and took possession of the vehicle,” he alleged.
He added that later it was revealed that the action had been carried out under the supervision of the Assistant Commissioner of Muzaffarabad and that the vehicle had been taken into government custody.
The lawmaker questioned the manner in which the administration handled the situation.
“If the administration needed the vehicle, they could have approached me directly. Had I been informed, I would have handed over the vehicle myself. There was no need to treat my son like a criminal,” he said.
He demanded that the government take immediate notice of this incident and suspend the concerned AC.
“If this is not done, I will go there myself and sit in a protest and continue it until my demands are accepted,” he said while addressing the legislative assembly.
Expressing anger over the incident, he termed the episode a serious insult to both himself and his family.
“I am part of the government. If such treatment can be meted out to me, what will happen to ordinary citizens?” he asked.
Responding to the complaint, Law Minister Mian Abdul Waheed defended the recovery of a vehicle from Javed Butt, saying that the action is an example of the rule of law.
The minister said that public office holders should not retain government assets that have not been formally allotted to them.
“It is a good tradition that if something is not allotted to someone, they should not keep it. We should set such an example,” Mian Abdul Waheed told the House.
Yesterday, a video of Javed Butt went viral on social media, where he said that he was a poor man and had kept the vehicle for the sake of Allah, upon which the district administration took action, seized the vehicle, and sent it to the central pool.
Javed Butt continued to use the said official vehicle even after he resigned from the position of minister on October 4, 2025.
