Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 14: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has quashed the Public Safety Act detention of Bahaar Nabi Mir of Ferozpora Rafiabad, Baramulla, holding that vague and unsupported allegations of links with Over Ground Workers cannot form the basis of preventive detention.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal allowed the Letters Patent Appeal filed by the appellant against the judgment of the writ court, which had earlier dismissed his habeas corpus petition challenging the detention order passed by the District Magistrate, Baramulla, on April 29, 2025 under Section 8 of the J&K Public Safety Act.
The appellant, through Advocate Mir Umar, argued that the detention order was based mainly on FIR No. 185/2019, registered nearly five years before the detention order, in which he had already been granted bail in 2020. It was submitted that no fresh illegal activity had been attributed to him thereafter, and therefore there was no live and proximate link between the past case and the detention order.
The State, represented by Deputy Advocate General Hakim Aman Ali, defended the order and submitted that the detention was passed after considering activities allegedly prejudicial to the security of the State.
The Bench, however, observed that apart from the old FIR and two preventive complaints under Sections 107/151 CrPC, no specific illegal activity had been shown against the appellant. The Court noted that the allegation that the appellant was in encrypted communication with certain OGWs was bald and vague, as the authorities failed to disclose their identities or any supporting material.
The Court further held that the representation submitted by the appellant’s father on May 16, 2025 was decided only on September 1, 2025, causing an unexplained delay of more than three months, which violated procedural safeguards.
Setting aside the writ court judgment, the High Court quashed the detention order and directed the appellant’s release forthwith, if not required in any other case.
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