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| Delay vitiates detention: HC quashes PSA order, directs release of detenue | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Feb 6: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh at Jammu has quashed the preventive detention of Mohd. Tahir Pall under the J&K Public Safety Act (PSA), holding that the Government's delay of over one-and-a-half months in deciding his representation rendered the detention illegal.
A Bench of Justice Sanjay Dhar allowed habeas corpus petition and set aside Order No. PSA No. 11 of 2025 dated 19.07.2025, passed by the District Magistrate, Jammu, directing the authorities to release the detenue forthwith, if not required in any other case.
The petitioner was represented by Mr. Satinder Gupta, Advocate and Mr. Mohd. Hafiz Nazki, Advocate, while the Union Territory was represented by Mr. P.D. Singh, Dy. AG.
During hearing, the Court noted from the detention record that the representation forwarded to the Home Department (dated 29.07.2025) was sent for comments and ultimately rejected on 16.09.2025, a delay which the Court termed as "slackness" fatal to the detention.
Relying on the Supreme Court judgment in Sarabjeet Singh Mokha vs District Magistrate, Jabalpur (2021) 20 SCC 98, the Court held that expeditious consideration of a detenue's representation is a valuable procedural safeguard and that its violation strikes at the heart of preventive detention guarantees.
The Court observed that Section 13 of the J&K PSA obligates the authorities to afford the detenue the earliest opportunity to make a representation and to consider it within a reasonable time, adding that failure to do so makes the detention unsustainable in law.
(JNF) |
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