Court Not Barred From Assessing Detention Orders If Unjust Detention Suspected: Jammu & Kashmir High Court

Justice Puneet Gupta added that if it finds that the order is merely a facade designed to unjustly detain an individual, the Court is duty-bound to intervene, as safeguarding the liberty of the detainee is of paramount importance.

“The Court does not assess over the detention order as if it is deciding the detention in appeal. However, it does not mean that the court is totally debarred from looking into the detention order and if finds that the same is just a camouflage to keep the person in detention, the court has to intervene as the liberty of the detenue cannot be compromised.”

The observations came in a plea challenging a detention order issued against the petitioner on April 7, 2022. The petitioner argued that the grounds cited in the order had no direct connection to him, rendering them vague and preventing him from making an effective representation. He further contended that he had not been provided with the relevant material when the detention order was issued.

Additionally, it was submitted that the most recent alleged activity attributed to him dated back to 2020, creating a significant gap between the event and the order's execution. Furthermore, this wasn't the first time that a detention order had been issued against the petitioner. In a previous instance, a writ petition filed by him led to the quashing of a detention order in 2020, based on similar grounds. Notably, this earlier detention order was not mentioned in the current order, raising questions about the manner in which it was issued.

Upon careful examination of the record, the court found that the primary grounds for detention rested on FIR No. 40/2020, which had also formed the basis of the earlier detention order that was subsequently quashed. The Court noted that the other activities mentioned in the current detention order lacked detail and were vague and ambiguous.

“The grounds of detention as reflected in the year 2020 are primarily based upon the FIR No. 40/2020 which is again mentioned in the present detention order. The other activity referred to in the detention order is too vague, ambiguous and bereft of any detail whatsoever. Both the detention orders for all practical purposes are based upon the FIR No. 40/2020 and no more. There can be no two detention orders on the basis of same grounds”, the bench explained.

Citing a precedent from the Supreme Court, Justice Gupta highlighted that subsequent detention orders based on grounds that echoed in earlier orders should not be permissible.

As a result, the High Court quashed the detention order and directed the immediate release of the petitioner, provided he was not required in any other case.

Case Title: Abdul Rashid Dar vs. UT Of J&K

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (JKL)

Case No: WP (Crl)No. 280/2022

Click Here To Read/Download Judgment