Yawar Ahmed Bhat vs UT Of Jammu And Kashmir And Others

Rahul Bharti, J

Heard learned counsel for the parties. Perused the writ pleadings and the documents annexed therewith. The detention record also perused.

The petitioner, who is 21 years of age, is approaching this court through his father for seeking quashment of preventive detention imposed upon him by the respondent 3 – District Magistrate, Pulwama in terms of an order no. 28/DMP/PSA/23 dated 12.05.2023 in exercise of power under section 8 of the J&K Public Safety Act, 1978.

The respondent 3 – District Magistrate, Pulwama for slapping preventive detention upon the petitioner came to act upon a dossier served and to this effect a dossier no. CS/PSA/23/4906-09 dated 08.05.2023 came to be placed by the Senior Superintendent of Police, Pulwama thereby purportedly producing the material record to exhibit the alleged acts of omission and commission on the part of the petitioner whereby his personal liberty was reckoned to be prejudicial to the security of the state.

The preventive detention of the petitioner is being seriously questioned, inter alia, on the ground of being resting squarely on surmises, be it on the part of the sponsoring authority i.e. the Senior Superintendent of Police, Pulwama, or the detention making authority i.e. District Magistrate, Pulwama.

From the dossier as served by the SSP Pulwama and literally borrowed word by word by the District Magistrate, Pulwama, it is, ex facie, forthcoming that there is nothing in the name of factual content spared and stated in the dossier and in the grounds of detention against the petitioner. In fact, the dossier as well as the grounds of detention just amount to profiling of the petitioner in a bad light without setting forth as to on which factual basis served by the SSP Pulwama, the petitioner’s personal liberty was so reckoned to be prejudicial to the security of the State.

Vagueness of grounds is well accepted basis for quashment of preventive detention. In this regard reference is made to judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the case of Ujagar Singh versus State of Punjab, 1951 SCC 170. The mandate of the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the aforesaid case squarely applies in the present case.

The dossier against the petitioner is of sweeping and generalized nature and so are the grounds of the detention framed by the District Magistrate, Pulwama. In fact, it would be safe to say that the District Magistrate, Pulwama abandoned an independent exercise of his mind in dealing with the dossier submitted by the SSP Pulwama against the petitioner and simply repeated verbatim the tone and tenor of the dossier to inflict the preventive detention order upon the petitioner as if preventive detention custody is just a matter of asking by the sponsoring law enforcement authority to be instantaneously delivered by the preventive detention authority. An Authority, be it State or its officer competent to pass detention order having a constitutional trust reposed in it from the end of the citizens of India that the State and its authority/ies they would guard the enjoyment of the fundamental right of the citizens to the fullest extent possible and not allow its deprivation by fakes.

In the light of the aforesaid, the detention order no. 28/DMP/PSA/23 dated 12.05.2023 passed by respondent 3 – District Magistrate, Pulwama against the petitioner is bereft of any factual basis and, therefore, cannot be allowed to sustain itself any longer and calls for its quashment so as to restore to the petitioner his personal liberty.

Accordingly, the detention order no. 28/DMP/PSA/23 dated 12.05.2023 passed by the respondent no. 3 - District Magistrate, Pulwama is hereby quashed and the petitioner is ordered to be set free. The Superintendent of the Jail concerned, where the petitioner is being detained, is directed to set the petitioner free. It is mandated upon the District Magistrate, Pulwama, to ensure that the petitioner is released from the jail concerned wherever the petitioner is presently lodged.

Disposed of.