The Jammu and Kashmir High Court in Srinagar has quashed Public Safety Act (PSA) invoked against a cancer patient from south Kashmir after his family challenged the detention order on health conditions and contended that the order was passed on the basis of his previous activities, reported The Indian Express.
The court directed the authorities to release Parvaiz Ahmad Pala from preventive custody.
“Detention order no. 37/DMK/PSA/19 dated 07.08.2019 is quashed, and detenu [detainee]is directed to be released from preventive custody forthwith. The matter stands accordingly disposed of, however there is no order as to costs,” The Indian Express quoted Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey as having said in his order on December 3.
In October, the High Court had asked the Commissioner Secretary of J&K’s Home department to have Pala “medically examined”.
Pala was lodged in a jail in UP. As per medical records, he is on “follow-up for management of (the) disease” and “needs daily medication and investigations for adequate control of disease”. In its dossier, J&K police termed Pala a “threat to safety and security of general public and sovereignty of the nation”.
In its order, the court noted, “The detention… is vitiated, the detenu having been also prevented from making an effective and purposeful representation… therefore, on this count also the detention order is liable to be quashed”.
