The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has quashed the detention of a Shopian man under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA), after he spent nearly 10 months in custody on grounds that included his “social acceptability” among local youth and an alleged “tendency towards anti-national activities”.
Justice Rajnesh Oswal quashed the detention order against Mushtaq Ahmad Shah, a resident of Shahlatoo village in Shopian, and directed that he be released immediately if he was not required in any other case.
Shah was detained in December last year under the PSA and was lodged at Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu, around 300 km from his home.
‘Social Acceptability’ Cited as a Ground for Detention
The detention order issued by the Shopian district magistrate relied on a police dossier and intelligence reports.
The order stated that Shah had allegedly “shown tendency towards anti-national activities” in Shopian and other parts of the district.
It further said that Shah “enjoys social acceptability in his locality, particularly among youth” and could potentially be used by terrorist outfits to build underground networks or influence the local environment.
The dossier also alleged that Shah could influence young people towards “anti-national and terrorist activities” during private gatherings and informal discussions.
Shah challenged the detention before the High Court, arguing that the allegations were false, vague and unsupported by concrete evidence.
Court Calls Detention Grounds Vague
The High Court found that the grounds cited for Shah’s detention did not contain sufficient details to allow him to effectively challenge the allegations.
The court noted that authorities had alleged that Shah was in contact with people and organisations with “extremist leanings” but had failed to identify those individuals or organisations.
“The vagueness of grounds of detention strikes at the root of the subjective satisfaction of detaining authority thereby vitiating the order of detention,” Justice Oswal said.
The court held that the detention order violated the constitutional safeguards under Article 22(5), which requires a person detained under preventive detention laws to be informed of the grounds of detention and given an opportunity to make a representation against the order.
The court also said the allegations were “false, incorrect, vague and non-existent” to the extent that no reasonable person could make an effective representation against the detention.
PSA Allows Detention Without Trial
The Public Safety Act permits preventive detention in Jammu and Kashmir for extended periods without a trial. In certain cases, detention can continue for up to two years.
The law has faced criticism and allegations of misuse in Jammu and Kashmir, with courts on several occasions examining whether detention orders meet constitutional safeguards.
In Shah’s case, the High Court concluded that the lack of specific details in the grounds of detention undermined the order and quashed it.
The court directed the authorities to release Shah forthwith unless he was required in connection with another case.
