J&K High Court Quashes PSA Order Against Pulwama Man

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Srinagar- The High Court of J&K and Ladakh on Monday quashed detention order under Public Safety Act against a 52-year-old man from Puwama and ordered his release if not required in any other case.

A bench of Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi passed the orders on a plea filed by the detainee, Abdul Ahad Bhat of Larkipora Awantipora Pulwama, through his son, seeking quashing of the detention order (No. DMP/PSA/23/11) dated 31 March 2023.

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“The detenue (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 Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978, unless and until the material on which the detention order is based, is supplied to detenue,” the court said.

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The representations by Bhat's wife and the son were moved after the detention order was approved by the Government on 5 April 2023, the court observed. It implies he has been deprived of his right of making a representation against his detention before the detention order was approved by the Government, for, having not been informed to do so, the court said.

“It has consistently been held by the Courts of law that violation of any of the constitutional rights of the detenue,by the detaining authority,puts under cloud the whole detention order.”

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Furthermore, the court said that it was not convinced to accept the plea of the authorities that Bhat was not showing the signs of remorse after having been bound down under Section 107 Cr read with Section 151 Cr. PC, as there is nothing on record in support of such contention.

“The respondents (authorities) cannot be expected to take recourse to hollow assertions only, as they were obliged, by law, to see that the detenue has indeed indulged in the similar activities for which he was bound down and there was a reasonable prognosis about his future conduct, in light of the well-articulated circumstances, that similar activities would likely be repeated by the detenue,” the court added.

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