Jammu Kashmir High Court Quashes PSA Detention of Pulwama Man, Orders Immediate Release | Kashmir Life

SRINAGAR: The High Court of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh has quashed the preventive detention of a Pulwama resident under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978, holding that serious inconsistencies and lack of application of mind by authorities rendered the detention illegal.

In a judgment delivered by Justice Rahul Bharti, the court set aside the detention order issued against Mudasir Ahmad Bhat by the District Magistrate of Pulwama and directed the authorities to restore his personal liberty immediately.

The detention had been ordered on April 30, 2025, under Section 8 of the Public Safety Act based on a police dossier submitted by the Senior Superintendent of Police, Pulwama. The police had alleged that Bhat, who worked as a salesman at a tin shop in Pulwama market, was acting as an overground worker for militants, providing logistical support and sharing information about security force movements. The dossier further accused him of attempting to lure local youth into militant ranks and maintaining links with militant elements operating in the Mitrigam area.

Following the dossier, the District Magistrate ordered his detention, and he was lodged in District Jail Udhampur. The government later approved the detention and confirmed it for six months from May 1, 2025 to October 31, 2025. The detention period was subsequently extended for another six months.

The detainee challenged the order through a habeas corpus petition filed in the High Court through his wife, Shagufta Akhter, arguing that the detention had been ordered without proper application of mind and in violation of legal safeguards governing preventive detention.

After examining the detention records and the pleadings filed by both sides, the court found several discrepancies in the material relied upon by the authorities.

The judgment noted that the police dossier referred to the petitioner being summoned by police on February 28, 2025 and April 23, 2025 under provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. However, the grounds of detention prepared by the District Magistrate mentioned February 28 and February 23 as the relevant dates, creating a clear contradiction between the police dossier and the detention order.

The court observed that such an inconsistency showed a lack of basic scrutiny by the detaining authority while framing the grounds of detention.

The court also pointed to a more serious discrepancy in official records related to the detainee’s incarceration. A communication from the Superintendent of District Jail Udhampur stated that the petitioner had been lodged in the jail since December 5, 2024, under the same detention order dated April 30, 2025 — a chronological impossibility.

According to the court, this contradiction should have immediately drawn attention from officials in the Home Department as well as the District Magistrate’s office. However, no authority appeared to have questioned or corrected the discrepancy.

The court observed that the situation suggested that preventive detention cases were being handled without adequate vigilance and were being left to subordinate staff rather than receiving the careful scrutiny required for matters involving personal liberty.

In the judgment, Justice Bharti referred to a quotation by physicist Albert Einstein about the importance of truth in small matters, remarking that preventive detention under the Public Safety Act is a serious constitutional power that does not permit carelessness at any stage.

Holding that the errors reflected a failure of due application of mind, the court declared the detention order, as well as the subsequent government approval, confirmation and extension orders issued by the Home Department of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, illegal.

The court directed the Superintendent of District Jail Udhampur to release the petitioner forthwith and restore his personal liberty.