Early Times Report
JAMMU, Aug 12: In three separate judgments, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has quashed detention orders passed under the Public Safety Act (PSA) against residents of Kishtwar, Udhampur, and Poonch, terming them arbitrary, mechanical, and violative of constitutional safeguards under Article 22(5) of the Constitution.
Justice M.A. Chowdhary, who authored all three verdicts, held that the detaining authorities relied on stale or irrelevant cases, failed to specify the time limit for making representations against the detention, and in some cases, did not supply the complete material relied upon.
In Kishtwar, the Court set aside the detention of Noor Din S/o Habib Gujjar, represented by Advocate Sanchit Verma, noting that the order was based on a 2008 FIR in which he had been acquitted and vague DDR entries that had not led to FIRs. The Union Territory was represented by GA Eishaan Dadhichi.
In Udhampur, the detention of Hafeez Mohammad S/o Shareef Mohammad was quashed. He was represented by Advocate Mohd. Akram, while the respondents were represented by GA Sumeet Bhatia. The Court observed that bovine smuggling cases, resulting only in fines, did not establish any "public order" disturbance.
In Poonch, the Court annulled the detention of Mohd. Hussain S/o Shah Mohd., again represented by Advocate Sanchit Verma, after finding reliance on 1991-92 cases, contradictory reports on execution of the warrant, and near-verbatim reproduction of the police dossier in the grounds of detention. The UT was represented by Dy. AG Dewakar Sharma.
The Court ordered the immediate release of all three detenues, if not required in any other case. (JNF) |
