| HC finds vague grounds, no real application of mind; sets aside PSA detention | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Apr 21: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has quashed a preventive detention order issued under the J&K Public Safety Act, holding that the grounds of detention were vague, lacked specific particulars and reflected no genuine application of mind by the detaining authority.
Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal passed the judgment in HCP 169/2024, Maqsad Ali Kohli vs UT of J&K & Ors, arising out of detention order No. 30/DMB/PSA/2024 dated April 19, 2024, issued by the District Magistrate, Baramulla, under Section 8 of the J&K Public Safety Act, 1978. The petition was filed through the detenue's brother, Mumtaz Ali Kohli.
The Court held that the allegations against the detenue were framed in broad and sweeping terms, without disclosing definite acts, dates, places or material particulars that could enable him to make an effective representation under Article 22(5) of the Constitution. It observed that vague expressions and speculative apprehensions could not furnish a legally sustainable basis for curtailing personal liberty.
A major infirmity noted by the Court was that the grounds of detention appeared to be nothing but a reproduction of the police dossier. The Court found striking similarity in language, structure and content between the dossier and the detention grounds, and held that the detaining authority had failed to record an independent and genuine subjective satisfaction, thereby vitiating the order on account of non-application of mind.
The High Court further held that the respondents had failed to convincingly establish that all relied-upon material had been furnished to the detenue in a meaningful manner and in a language understood by him. It observed that mere oral explanation, without proper proof and without translated copies, could not satisfy the constitutional requirement of effective communication of the grounds.
The Court also found that the detention rested on stale and speculative considerations, including apprehensions linked to the 2024 Parliamentary elections, without any proximate or live nexus with the necessity of preventive detention. Holding that the cumulative effect of vagueness, non-application of mind, non-supply of material and failure of proper communication rendered the detention legally unsustainable, the Court set aside the PSA order and directed that the detenue be released forthwith, provided he is not required in any other case.
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