Early Times Report
Jammu, Sept 2: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has quashed the preventive detention of a Kathua resident, holding that the detention order suffered from serious legal infirmities.
Justice M.A. Chowdhary, while delivering judgment in HCP No. 62/2025, set aside Detention Order No. PSA/146 dated February 13, 2025, issued by the District Magistrate, Kathua, against Shamas Din, 35, of Gali Sadrota village in Billawar tehsil.
The petitioner, represented by advocates S.H. Ashrafi, Satish K. Sharma and Sahil Singh, argued that the detention was based on vague Daily Diary Reports (DDRs) and preventive proceedings under Section 128 of BNSS, 2023, none of which culminated in an FIR. They further contended that the grounds of detention were a verbatim reproduction of the police dossier and that the detenue was never informed of his right to make a representation before the detaining authority.
The Government, represented by GA Suneel Malhotra, defended the order, claiming that the detenue had links with banned organisations and was functioning as an Over Ground Worker (OGW) for terrorists. After examining the record, the Court observed that the grounds of detention lacked independent application of mind, and the omission to inform the detenue of his right to represent before the detaining authority vitiated the order. The Court also noted that DDR entries, without registration of an FIR, could not form the basis of such a serious preventive action.
“The impugned order has been passed in breach of constitutional and statutory safeguards and is unsustainable in law,” the Court said while ordering the immediate release of the detenue, if not required in any other case. (JNF) |
