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| Alleged gangster’s detention under PSA quashed | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Nov 20: Quashing the detention under Public Safety Act of Koushal Kumar Sharma alias Kashu, alleged gangster, detained by the order District Magistrate, Jammu on January 9, 2008, Justice JP Singh of Jammu and Kashmir High Court directed the respondents to set free the detenue forthwith, if not required, in any other case.
While quashing the detention order, Justice JP Singh after hearing Senior Advocate MA Goni assisted by Adv Ajay Singh Kotwal appearing for the petitioner (detenue) and Additional Advocate General SC Gupta appearing for the state, observed that the grounds of the detention indicate that the detenue is stated to have chosen criminal activities as his profession and had formed a gang of criminals who would always remain armed with deadly weapons and strike at innocent persons/ peace loving citizens either for extortion or for creating fear in the minds of general public, but this prelude in the grounds of detention as it does not indicate the material on the basis of which it had been drawn by the District Magistrate. Records indicate that this introduction in the grounds of detention is the same with which the SSP Jammu's Dossier had been prefaced. The police dossier too is silent about the material on the basis this introductory statement had been made by the SSP. Such being the case, the District Magistrate does not appear to have applied his mind, while contemplating petitioner's detention and had mechanically reproduced the police dossier in the grounds of the detention to justify petitioner's detention without looking for the material which would satisfy him that when released on bail, the detenue was likely to revive his criminal activities which would pose threat to the maintenance of public order. The petitioner's detention becomes unsustainable, respondent’s omission to supply him the material which had been relied upon by the detaining authority, while contemplating his detention order, has deprived him of his fundamental right and statutory right available to him, to make effective representation against his detention to the Government. The detention order even otherwise suffers from non-application of mind and is liable to be quashed to restore petitioner's right to liberty, Justice Singh further observed. With these observations, the Court quashed the detention order under PSA passed by the District Magistrate Jammu whereby petitioner was detained and further issued direction to the respondents to set the petitioner detenue to liberty forthwith, if not required in any other case. JNF |
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