Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 24: In a series of significant rulings, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has delivered a mixed verdict on preventive detentions, quashing two orders under the Public Safety Act (PSA) while upholding two others, including one under the PIT NDPS Act.
Justice Mohd Yousuf Wani quashed the detention of Maryama Begum of Udhampur, who had been held under Order No. 09-PSA-2024. The High Court found that the detention was based merely on vague allegations copied from a police dossier, without any specific incident or supporting material.
“Bald and general allegations cannot justify preventive detention, particularly when no criminal case exists against the detenue,” the High Court observed, directing her immediate release.
In another relief, Justice M A Chowdhary set aside the detention of Ghulam Haider, a 72-year-old retired lecturer from Kathua, who had been branded an Over Ground Worker. The High Court noted procedural lapses, including unexplained delay in issuing the order and failure to communicate the outcome of his representation. “Personal liberty is the most cherished right, and even a slight infraction of safeguards vitiates detention,” Justice Chowdhary held.
However, the High Court upheld the detention of Ravinder Kumar alias Shanu of Billawar, Kathua, describing him as a repeat offender involved in multiple criminal cases. Dismissing his petition, the Bench held that his continuous involvement in organized crime posed a grave threat to public order.
“The subjective satisfaction of the detaining authority, once based on relevant material, cannot be substituted by judicial opinion,” the High Court ruled.
Similarly, the detention of Ashwani Kumar alias Rinku of Samba under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (PIT NDPS Act) was upheld. Despite being on bail in earlier NDPS cases, he was found to have resumed drug trafficking. The High Court noted that ordinary criminal law had failed to deter him and his activities posed a grave threat to youth and society. Preventive detention, it said, was justified in such circumstances.
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