HC quashes Srinagar man’s PSA detention

Srinagar, Feb 10: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has ordered immediate release of a man from preventive detention while quashing his order under Public Safety Act (PSA).

Basharat Ahmad Bazaz, 32, from Srinagar through his mother had petitioned the court assailing the detention order dated September 5, 2024 passed by District Magistrate Srinagar.

Allowing Bazazís plea, a Bench of Justice Rahul Bharti in his decision underscored that the detention order against the detainee was ìillegal, mechanically passed and vitiated by non-application of mindî.

The court said that the constitutional right of representation cannot be treated as an ìempty formality" and the detaining authority appeared to have a preconceived mindset that a detaineeís representation need not even be considered.

Right of representation is not an empty formality from the point of view of a detenu (detainee) whereas it may be reckoned to be formality of botheration from the point of view of detention order making authority,î the court said.

The detention order making authority appears to be ridden with a preconceived mindset that a detenu cannot make out or be heard to make out any ground for revocation of his or her preventive detention by way of his or her representation, and therefore, there is hardly any need to have a look at the representation of a detenu except to put it in the dustbin disposal and not to even bother to make any averment in counter affidavit to be submitted before a Constitutional Court where legality and validity of the impugned detention is being examined, as is the present case,î it said.

The court said that the grounds of detention were a verbatim replica of the police dossier, reflecting a run-of-the-mill and mechanical exercise by the District Magistrate, who acted on dotted lines drawn by the police without independent application of mindî.

The court also noted a glaring error in the identity of the detainee, as it observed that the detention order dated September 5, 2024, mentioned Bazaz as the son of late Ghulam Rasool Bazaz, which was later sought to be corrected as Ghulam Hassan Bazaz through a corrigendum.

However, the court held that this was not a ìmere typographical error but exposed malice in law and complete non-application of mindî, especially when the same authority had earlier detained the Bazaz in 2018 with correct parentage.

Subsequently, the court set aside the detention order noting the same as ìfactually and constitutionally illegalî. The court ordered the immediate release of the detainee from Central Jail, Srinagar.