SRINAGAR — The High Court (HC) Wednesday ordered the immediate release of a man from preventive custody while quashing his detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA).
A bench of Justice Sanjay Dhar directed the government to release forthwith from preventive custody Kaiser Ahmad Beigh of Nai Basti, Anantnag who was booked under the PSA by an order issued by District Magistrate Anantnag on October 19, 2021.
About the contention that the detention order suffered from non-application of the mind on the part of the detaining authority in as much as the grounds of detention did not bear any reference to the fact that the petitioner had been admitted to bail in FIR No 132/2019 in terms of order dated January 18, 2020, passed by Special Judge Designated under the NIA Act, Srinagar, the court said: “The non-mentioning of this important fact in the grounds of detention exhibits non-application of mind on the part of detaining authority.”
The court said that this shows that the detaining authority had not meticulously examined the record while passing the order of detention which renders it unsustainable in law.
While the court observed that “perusal of the record of the petition revealed that a representation had been made on behalf of the detainee through his cousin which seemingly had been received by the office of District Magistrate, Anantnag, on November 3, 2021, it said: “The failure of the respondents to place the representation submitted by the detainee before the advisory board and its consequent non-consideration indisputably amounts to a violation of the provisions of Article 22 (5) of the constitution.”
Quashing the order of detention dated October 19, 2021, issued by the District Magistrate, Anantnag, the court said, “It is clear that non-consideration or an unreasonably belated consideration of the representation tantamount to non-compliance of Article 22 (5) of the constitution, which in turn renders the detention unsustainable in law.”
The court directed that the detainee be released from preventive custody forthwith provided he was not required in connection with any other case.