Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Feb 19: Expressing concern over delay in filing of objections in detention matters, the High Court asked the Law Department to put a proper mechanism for timely submitting the objections and record of detention.
Justice Rahul Bharti ordered this in a Heabus Corpus petition in which detention of one Shakir Ahmad Lone was challenged, however the counsel representing him submitted for dismissal of the plea as the same has become infructuous as the detenue suffered full period of detention.
The petitioner-Lone had come up with institution of instant petition whereby he sought quashment of his preventive detention passed by the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir vide order dated 13.12.2024 pursuant to which he came to be detained on 19.12.2024.
“The petitioner had approached the court within two months of his detention custody but the inability of this Court to attend to the Habeus Corpus writ petition, with due urgency and exigency, made him to suffer full period of detention as a result whereof, the writ petition has now been rendered infructuous in its pendency”, Justice Bharti said.
The court added that the plea of the counsel for the petitioner to dismiss the writ petition as rendered infructuous is most distressing for this constitutional court to hear as a plea to accord disposal of this nature to this writ petition by saying dismissed as being rendered infructuous.
“…the respondents took six months in coming forward with the filing of a counter affidavit to this writ petition, in a case wherein the maximum detention period meant for the detenu to undergo was one year”, the court recorded.
The court therefore, put it as a caveat to the Commissioner/Secretary to Government, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir that a proper mechanism be set up at the end of Government and in particular at the end of detention order making authority as well as the Home Department to ensure timely submission of counter affidavit/s and production of detention record without asking for repeat of adjournments so as to save embarrassment to the rule of law which is exemplified by the present case.
The court directed the Registrar Judicial, Srinagar to forward a copy of this order to Commissioner/Secretary to Government, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the sake of notice and due measures.
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