Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has overturned its single bench verdict on plea challenging detention under Public Safety Act of a youth from south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
On September 19, court’s single judge had dismissed the petition filed by the youth, Farooq Ahmad Bhat, challenging the District Magistrate Pulwama order, detaining him under J&K Public Safety Act.
Challenging the dismissal, Bhat’s counsel, advocate G N Shaheen argued before court’s division of Justices Mohammad Yaqoob Mir and Ali Mohammad Magrey that the single bench have not appreciated grounds which were under challenge in the plea and has not applied the law as referred to in the way it should have been applied.
“Perusal of the detention order reveals that it is on the basis of dossier placed before the detaining authority by Superintendent of Police, satisfaction has been derived but it is nowhere mentioned that the grounds of detention were formulated,” the division bench said after hearing Shaheen.
“Even if it would have been mentioned still perusal of the record shows that the grounds of detention is the copy of dossier except for the interplay of words here and there. For deriving subjective satisfaction, the detaining authority is required to apply its mind to the entire material as shall be collected by the police, thereafter to formulate the grounds of the detention and only then to pass the order of detention,” the division bench said, quashed the detention order under the PSA against Bhat.
“The order of detention is unsustainable, as such, quashed. The (detainee) be released from the preventive custody if not required in connection with any other case,” the court added.
