Srinagar, July 9: The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has quashed the preventive detention of a Pulwama-based cleric under the Public Safety Act (PSA), holding that the authorities failed to adhere to mandatory constitutional and procedural safeguards while ordering his detention.
The court observed that the detaining authority had violated the safeguards guaranteed under Article 22(5) of the Constitution by failing to properly communicate the grounds of detention and by not providing the detenue with all the material relied upon to justify his detention, thereby depriving him of his right to make an effective representation against the order.
In its judgment, the High Court ruled that preventive detention laws, including the PSA, permit detention without trial only when strict procedural requirements are meticulously followed. Any deviation from these safeguards, the court said, renders the detention legally unsustainable.
The court also found that the detention order reflected a lack of independent application of mind by the District Magistrate, noting that the grounds of detention substantially reproduced the police dossier without adequate scrutiny. Such mechanical reproduction, the court held, cannot form the basis of a valid preventive detention order.
Observing that procedural safeguards are not mere formalities but essential constitutional protections against arbitrary detention, the bench emphasized that preventive detention laws must be interpreted and applied with utmost caution because they directly affect an individual’s personal liberty.
Accordingly, the High Court set aside the detention order and directed the authorities to release the cleric forthwith, provided he is not required in connection with any other criminal case.
The ruling is the latest in a series of judgments in which the High Court has invalidated PSA detentions after finding procedural irregularities and violations of constitutional safeguards, reiterating that executive authorities must strictly comply with legal requirements while invoking preventive detention laws.
