Srinagar, 27 May (CNI) : The High Court of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh on Friday quashed detention order under Public Safety Act against a resident of Pattan Baramulla and ordered his immediate release if not required in any other case.
“A comparative perusal of the grounds of detention and the dossier furnished by the sponsoring authority would reveal that the grounds of detention are verbatim reproduction of the contents of the dossier except the cosmetic changes,” a bench of Justice Rajnesh Oswal said.
The detaining authority, the court said, was required to apply its mind independently with regard to the material placed before it so as to derive satisfaction that it has become necessary to detain the petitioner (detainee), Farhad Ahmad Lone of Zangam Pattan Baramulla. “But the same has not been done in the instant case. This too renders the detention order illegal.”
The perusal of the record, the court said, also revealed that the petitioner was already in custody when the detention order was passed.
“From the ground of detention, nothing is forthcoming as to what compelled the respondent (district magistrate Baramulla) to pass the detention order when the petitioner was already in custody,” the court said, “There is no reference either in the dossier or in the grounds of detention that the petitioner had preferred any bail application before the trial court.”
Accordingly, the court quashed the detention order passed on 9 April 2022 and directed authorities to release him from preventive custody forthwith “if not required in any other case.”(CNI)
