Srinagar- The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has quashed the detention order under Public Safety Act against journalist Asif Sultan Saida, observing that the procedural requirements have not been followed by the authorities in letter and spirit.
“It needs no emphasis, that detenu cannot be expected to make a meaningful exercise of his Constitutional and Statutory rights guaranteed under Article 22(5) of the Constitution of India and Section 13 of the J&K Public Safety Act, 1978, unless and until the material on which detention order is based, is supplied to him,” said a bench of Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul while quashing order (No.DMS/PSA/ 30/ 2022) dated 9 April 2022 passed by District Magistrate Srinagar whereby Asif Sultan Saida, a resident of Firdous Abad, Batamaloo Srinagar was placed under preventive detention “with a view to prevent him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of security of the State.”
“It is only after detenu has all the material available that he can make an effort to convince detaining authority and thereafter the Government that their apprehensions vis-à-vis his activities are baseless and misplaced,” the court said, adding, “If detenu is not supplied the material, on which the detention order is based, he will not be in a position to make an effective representation against his detention order. The failure on the part of the detaining authority to supply the material, relied at the time of making the detention order to the detenu, renders the detention order illegal and unsustainable.”
Subsequently the court quashed the detention order. “As a corollary, respondents (authorities) are directed to set the detenu (Aisf Sultan) at liberty forthwith provided he is not required in any other case.”
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