Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has quashed Public Safety Act against a youth from Baramulla district and ordered his release forthwith from the preventive custody unless required in any other case.
The detainee, Waseem Mehraj Farash, was earlier on detained by District Magistrate Baramulla on 06 February last year and lodged in Central Jail Kotebhalwal, Jammu. The order was challenged by Farash and it was quashed by the court and directed authorities to release him from preventive detention forthwith.
Advocate Mian Qayoom along with Mian Tufail, Farash’s counsel submitted that when the order was served on the authorities, he, instead of being released, was booked in case (F.I.R No. 391/2016) u/s 7/25 Arms Act.
Farash, counsel said, was kept in illegal custody and later on 7 September last year District Magistrate Baramulla directed Farash’s lodgement in District Jail Kathua Jammu.
The counsel submitted that copy of the dossier and other connected documents was not provided to Farash and thus deprived of the right to file an effective representation before the Detaining Authority. They said that Farash could not have been detained under PSA when he was already booked in substantive offences under F.I.R No. 391/2016. They argued that the authorities in their reply affidavit have stated that the detention warrant was executed on 08 September 2017 by one ASI Ghulam Ahmad of DPL Baramulla, who read over and explained the contents of the same to
Farash. “Assuming the contention to be correct, the ASI ought to have filed an affidavit to substantiate so, which has not been done in the case on hand. The petition, on this ground alone, deserves to be allowed and, as a consequence thereof, the order of detention is liable to be quashed,” the counsel said. The counsel for authorities argued that the order of detention has been passed after taking into consideration the relevant provisions of J&K Public Safety Act.
After hearing both the sides, a bench of Justice M K Hanjura said: “The Supreme Court (said) that it must be remembered that if, in the case of preventive detention, no offence is proved and there is no conviction, which can only be sanctioned by legal evidence, preventive detention is often described as “jurisdiction of suspicion.” To prevent misuse of this potentially dangerous power the law of preventive detention has to be strictly construed and meticulous compliance with the procedural safeguards, however, technical, is, in our opinion, mandatory and vital.”
Subsequently, the court quashed the detention order and ordered authorities to release Waseem Mehraj Farash son Mehraj-ud-din Farash of Khanpora Baramulla forthwith from the preventive custody, “unless required in any other case.”
