Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 26: Coming down heavily on the misuse of preventive detention laws, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh today quashed two detention orders issued by the District Magistrate, Rajouri, describing them as mechanical, arbitrary and violative of constitutional safeguards.
Justice M A Chowdhary, while delivering two separate judgments, ordered the release of Asif Mehmood (31), of Manyal, Thanamandi, and Abrar Afzal (26), of Panghai, Thanamandi, who were detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA) in 2024.
Mehmood had been detained vide Order No. DMR/INDEX/06 of 2024 dated October 22, 2024, on the basis of his alleged involvement in FIRs registered in 2009 and 2019. His counsels, Advocates Muzaffar Iqbal Khan and Mazher Ali Khan, argued that the cases were stale, lacked proximate link, and that the detention order was a “cut-and-paste reproduction of the police dossier”, showing non-application of mind.
The High Court upheld the argument, observing that use of both grounds — “public order” and “security of the State” — in the same order made it legally unsustainable. Justice Chowdhary ruled that failure to inform the detenue of his right to make representation within the stipulated time further vitiated the order.
Similarly, Afzal was detained vide Order No. DMR/INDEX/07 of 2024 dated October 31, 2024. His counsels, Advocates Muzaffar Iqbal Khan and Mazher Ali Khan, submitted that his detention was based on recycled FIRs already used in an earlier PSA detention in 2022, along with a single complaint under Sections 107/151 CrPC.
They further contended that essential material was never supplied to the detenue, denying him the right to effective representation.
The Court found substance in these submissions and held that the order suffered from non-supply of material, mechanical reproduction of dossiers, and denial of constitutional rights, making it untenable. Afzal was ordered to be released forthwith.
The High Court reiterated that preventive detention, being a drastic measure, must be used sparingly and with strict adherence to constitutional safeguards. “Personal liberty is the most cherished freedom; even the slightest breach of procedure vitiates detention,” Justice Chowdhary observed.
With both detention orders quashed, the High Court directed the immediate release of the detenues unless required in any other case.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
