Court raps detaining authority for ‘shamelessly trying support’ detention order
Srinagar: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh Thursday ordered the release of a young man from south Kashmir who has been languishing in jail since April 2024 after being detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA).
In what seems a classic case of non-application of mind by the authorities in putting people behind bars under the PSA, the High Court ordered the immediate release of 34-year-old Imtiyaz Ahmad Ganie, son of Abdul Majeed, a resident of Chee Anantnag. Ganie is detained in Kot Bhalwal jail Jammu since April 2024.
Justice Moksha Khajuria allowed the petition of the elderly father of the detenue, assailing the detention order of his son under No.13/DMA/PSA/DET/2024 dated 20.04.2024 passed by the District Magistrate, Anantnag.
Perusing the record of the case, Justice Khajuria said “…. extract from the detention record, forming the basis of the impugned order, suggests that the detaining authority has failed to apply its mind to the material placed before it while passing the impugned order, and such lapse goes to the very root of the impugned order”.
She said that the non-application of mind on the part of the detaining authority in issuing the impugned order is writ large on the face of the record. Therefore, the action taken pursuant to such non-application of mind by the detaining authority cannot be sustained in the eyes of law.
“There is absolutely no justification available on record or in the counter affidavit filed by the respondents as regards the factum of mistaken identity as indicated by the learned counsel for the petitioner during the course of argument. The prognosis, therefore, is that the submission advanced by learned counsel for the petitioner in this regard is correct,” said the court.
It held that the vitiating factor appearing in the grounds of detention is worth serious notice. “Admittedly the detenue (Imtiyaz) is not involved in a criminal case on the basis whereof he has been detained, as it is someone else who has a similar name, who is stated to be involved in the case which founds basis for prevention detention of the detenue”.
The detaining authority, the court said, is “shamelessly” trying support for the issuance of the impugned order from material which does not speak of the involvement of the detenue in a case which has formed the basis for issuance of the impugned order.
It held that as such the foundation on the basis of the detenue has been implicated and detained under preventive detention collapses by default.
Since the petitioner succeeded in proving his case on the ground of non-application of mind alone, therefore, the court did not require going into the other grounds of challenge.
The court was convinced that the petitioner has been able to prove that the detaining authority has not applied its mind while issuing the detention order.
The detenue, according to his writ petition, was arrested without any justification and cause on 15.04.2024 by Police Station Anantnag.
Afterwards he was shifted to Central Jail, Kot Bhalwal, Jammu on 20.04.2024, where he has been kept under preventive detention in terms of a detention order on “mistaken identity”.
