Srinagar, Apr 18: High Court has quashed four detention orders and directed the authorities to release the detenues.
The court of Justice Rahul Bharti and Justice Moksha Kazmi has quashed the detention orders of Ubair Hameed Bhat, Abdul Momin Peer, Ikhlaq Imtiyaz Sheikh and Majid Ashraf Wani. The detenue-Sheikh was detained by the District Magistrates Baramulla, while as detenue-Bhat, Sheikh and Peer were detained by the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir in drug trafficking.
Justice Kazmi while quashing the PSA of detenue-Wani said, the respondent-authorities cannot be expected to take recourse to hollow assertions only, as they were obliged, by law, to see that the detenue has indeed indulged in the similar activities(drug trafficking) for which he was granted bail and there were reasonable prognosis about his future conduct, in light of the well-articulated circumstances, that similar activities would likely be repeated by the detenue.
Referring the Supreme Court on this aspect, Justice Kazmi said it has been consistently held by the Apex Court that the grounds of detention should always be proximate, pertinent and relevant as the subjective satisfaction of the detaining authority is not immune to judicial review though an exclusive domain of the detaining authority.
“The respondents have not given any justification, much less a reasonable justification as to why the detenue was not put under preventive detention during the time the detenue was in their custody for 33 days after having been arrested in case FIR no. 14/2024 on 17.01.2024 by Police Station Nigeen”, the court added.
Justice Bharti has quashed the PSAs of detenue-Bhat and Peer. Both were detained by the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir un NDPS Act. ” No counter came to be filed by the authorities even when costs came to be imposed in terms of an order dated 13th of November, 2024 and despite that no counter affidavit came to be filed meaning thereby that the grounds of challenge put up by the petitioner in his writ petition against his preventive detention remained unrebutted thereby rendering the outcome of this writ petition just a matter of formality of quashing the preventive detention order No. DIVCOM-“K”/110/2024 dated 1st of May, 2024 read with Government Order No. Home/PB-V/1280 of 2024 dated 12th of June, 2024”, the court said in detenue-Bhat’s case.
The court has also quashed the PSA of detenue-Peer on the ground that the dossier read with grounds of detention would show that while the reference to FIR No. 105/2023 came to be made along with a copy of challan presented against the petitioner-Peer before the court of law, there is a deafening silence about the fact as to whether he was granted bail in the case or not whereas the fact is that by virtue of an order dated 7th of August, 2023, the court of Additional Sessions Judge, Handwara had come to grant bail in favour of the petitioner by reference to FIR No. 105/2023 which fact is borne out from the documents annexed with the writ petition.
The court has quashed the PSA of detenue-Sheikh on the ground that the detaining authority-District Magistrate Baramulla bothered least to convey the rejection of representation to the petitioner as also did not deem it appropriate to share the said fact of rejection of the petitioner’s representation with this Court. “Nothing can explain better the casualness on the part of the District Magistrate, Baramulla in dealing with the preventive detention of the petitioner than this aspect”, read the judgment.
The post HC quashes 4 PSAs in NDPS, directs their release appeared first on Daily Excelsior.