Srinagar, Sept. 8, KDC: Holding that vague and non-specific grounds lacking material particulars strike at the very root of an executive detention order, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has quashed the detention of a Srinagar resident under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and directed his immediate release.
While allowing a habeas corpus petition, Justice Sanjay Dhar set aside the detention order (No. DMS/PSA/18/2025) passed against detenue Faizan Yaseen Shalla by the District Magistrate, Srinagar, on May 7, 2025.
The detaining authority had placed Shalla under preventive custody alleging that he was influenced by radical ideology, had come into contact with active terrorists and over ground workers of the banned outfit The Resistance Front (TRF), and had provided logistical support to them.
Scrutinizing the detention dossier, the court held that the allegations were bereft of specifics, depriving the detenue of his constitutional right under Article 22(5) to submit a meaningful representation.
“In the grounds of detention, there is no mention of the particulars of the places and the identity of the alleged terrorists of banned outfit TRF with whom he had come into contact, nor there is any mention of the particulars of the terrorists to whom the petitioner had provided the logistic support. The particulars of the period when the detenue is alleged to have come into contact with these terrorists and when he provided logistic support to them are also not mentioned in the grounds of detention. Thus, the grounds, being vague lacking in material particulars, the detenue could not have made an effective representation against his detention,” a single bench of Justice Dhar observed.
The court also pointed out that while the record stated Shalla had been bound down on three occasions under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), the administration failed to show the outcome of those proceedings. Additionally, the Bench held that two police beat reports dated April 14, 2025, and April 30, 2025, lacked any specific overt activity attributed to the petitioner, offering no compelling justification for preventive custody.
Quashing the detention order, the High Court directed the authorities to release Faizan Yaseen Shalla from preventive custody forthwith, provided he is not required in connection with any other case.
Senior Advocate Tassaduq H. Khawaja along with Advocate Naseer-ul-Akbar appeared for the petitioner, while Assisting Counsel Ms. Maha Majeed represented the administration vice Senior Additional Advocate General Mohsin Qadiri. (KDC)
