Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 22: In a strong indictment of the administration, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has quashed three preventive detention orders passed under the Public Safety Act (PSA), observing that authorities acted mechanically, relied on vague allegations and failed to honour constitutional safeguards.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal upheld the release of Arif Aijaz Shahri of Bandipora, who had been detained in August 2023 citing security concerns during the Amarnath Yatra. The Bench held that the detention was based on stale incidents and vague allegations, while a representation submitted by the detenue’s wife was not considered in time.
The court observed that such vagueness violated fundamental rights under Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution.
In another case, Justice M A Chowdhary set aside the detention of Abdul Qayoom of Rajouri, detained in November 2024 on allegations of being an OGW and a threat to public order. The court found that Qayoom was not informed of his right to represent before the detaining authority, was supplied incomplete material and the outcome of his representation was never conveyed. The order, the court said, was nothing more than a “copy-paste of the police dossier” and passed without application of mind.
Similarly, the detention of Mohd Abass of Kathua was quashed after the court noted that old FIRs from 2018 and 2023, in which he had already been granted bail, were mechanically used as grounds for invoking PSA in December 2024. The court held that authorities delayed and failed to properly communicate the outcome of his representation, while essential material was not supplied. The grounds of detention were found to be a verbatim reproduction of the police dossier, rendering the order unsustainable.
The High Court in all three cases stressed that personal liberty is a most precious right and cannot be curtailed casually. It underlined that preventive detention is an extraordinary power meant to be used sparingly and with strict compliance of safeguards.
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