Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 21: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has quashed a preventive detention order issued under the Public Safety Act (PSA) against a Baramulla resident, observing serious violations of constitutional safeguards and procedural lapses by the authorities.
Delivering the judgment in a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Maqsad Ali Kohli, a resident of Uri in Baramulla district, Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal held that the detention order dated April 19, 2024, issued by the District Magistrate, Baramulla, under Section 8 of J&K PSA Act, could not withstand judicial scrutiny.
The detenue had been lodged in Central Jail, Kot Bhalwal, Jammu and the petition was filed through his brother, Mumtaz Ali Kohli.
After examining the record, the court found that the grounds of detention were “general and sweeping” in nature, lacking specific details such as dates, places, or concrete acts attributable to the detenue. It noted that expressions like “credible information” and “deep-rooted connections” were used without supporting material, rendering the allegations vague and insufficient.
Further observing that the detention order was largely a verbatim reproduction of the police dossier, the Court found striking similarity in language, structure and content between the dossier and the detention grounds, and held that the detaining authority had failed to record an independent and genuine subjective satisfaction, thereby vitiating the order on account of non-application of mind.
On the issue of procedural safeguards, the High Court found that the authorities failed to establish that all relevant material relied upon for detention had been furnished to the detenue in a meaningful manner and in a language understood by him. This, the court said, deprived him of his constitutional right under Article 22(5) to make an effective representation against his detention.
The Court also found that the detention rested on stale and speculative considerations, including apprehensions linked to the 2024 Parliamentary elections, without any proximate or live nexus with the necessity of preventive detention.
Holding that the cumulative effect of vagueness, non-application of mind, non-supply of material and failure of proper communication rendered the detention legally unsustainable, the Court set aside the PSA order and directed that the detenue be released forthwith, provided he is not required in any other case.
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