Srinagar: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has quashed detention of three persons who were booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and ordered their immediate release, if not needed in any other cases.
“It needs no emphasis, that (detainee) cannot be expected to make a meaningful exercise of his Constitutional and Statutory rights guaranteed under Article 22(5) of the Constitution of India and Section 13 of the J&K Public Safety Act, 1978, unless and until the material on which detention order is based, is supplied to him,” said a bench of Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul while quashing the detention order passed by Deputy Commissioner Pulwama against one Waseem Ahmad Pandith of Karimabad Pulwama on April 7, 2022.
“It is only after (detainee) has all the said material available that he can make an effort to convince detaining authority and thereafter the Government that their apprehensions vis-à-vis his activities are baseless and misplaced,” the court said. “If (detainee) is not supplied the material, on which the detention order is based, he will not be in a position to make an effective representation against his detention order. The failure on the part of the detaining authority to supply the material, relied at the time of making the detention order to the (detainee), renders the detention order illegal and unsustainable.”
The court also quashed the detention order passed on May 19, 2022, by District Magistrate, Bandipora whereby Ghulam Mohammad Waza of Bagh Bandipora was placed under preventive detention with a view to prevent him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order.
Moreover, the court quashed the detention order, passed by Deputy Commissioner Budgam against Zahoor Ahmad Sheikh of Kandoora Beerwah on June 27, 2022.
The court in all three cases directed authorities to release the detainees forthwith, provided they are not required in any other case.