Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 9: High Court has upheld a detention order and quashed another one with the direction to the authorities to release the detenue.
Justice M A Chowdhary upheld the PSA of Aashiq Hussain Naikoo of Diver Anderbug Kupwara. Naikoo was detained under the orders of the District Magistrate Kupwara vide order dated 30.04.2025 by stating that the detenue has a long history of link in transporting and providing food and shelter to the militants initially in Sopore and then in Kupwara.
It has further been contended that Naikoo was involved in stone pelting and terrorist acts particularly providing support to the terrorists and the field reports suggest that he did not bother to mend his ways and was involved in promoting subversive activities as he is a category “A” OGW of proscribed organizations of LeT/TRF.
The detaining authority, after examining the dossier and connected material, arrived at the subjective satisfaction that the activities of the petitioner were prejudicial to the security of the State.
“The scope of judicial review in matters of preventive detention is limited. The Court does not sit in appeal over the subjective satisfaction recorded by the detaining authority. Interference is warranted only where there is non-application of mind, absence of relevant material, violation of constitutional or statutory safeguards, or where the detention is otherwise shown to be legally unsustainable”, Justice Chowdhary said after examining the detention record and accordingly upheld the detention order.
The court allowed the plea of detenue- Mehraj ud din Bhat of Pandach Srinagar. He was detained on the orders of District Magistrate Srinagar on 02.06.2025. The court while quashing his PSA said that there must exist a live and proximate link between the past conduct relied upon and the necessity of detention. The incidents relied upon by the detaining authority the court added, pertains to the years 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992. The detention order was passed in the year 2025, after a gap of approximately thirty-three years from the petitioner’s release.
“This Court is satisfied that the detention order is founded predominantly on stale and remote incidents of the years 1989-1992; that no live and proximate link exists between those incidents and the detention order passed in the year 2025”, the court recorded
The court accordingly, allowed the petition of detenue-Naikoo against his PSA and quashed his detention passed by the District Magistrate, Srinagar with the direction to the authorities to release the detenue forthwith from preventive custody.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
