Srinagar, Aug 19: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has ordered the immediate release of a man from Baramulla while quashing his detention under Public Safety Act (PSA)
Observing that the order was based on stale grounds and reflected non-application of mind by the detaining authority, a bench of Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi quashed the detention order dated 7 May 2025, issued by the District Magistrate, Baramulla against Abid Parvaiz Hajam, a resident of Andergam, Pattan.
Hajam had assailed the District Magistrate’s order in his plea, which the court allowed.
The court noted that Hajam had earlier been arrested in 2020 in connection with FIR No. 234/2020 registered at Police Station Pattan under provisions of the Arms Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. After spending three years in custody, he was granted bail by the designated NIA court on May 12, 2023. He was subsequently detained under the PSA, but the earlier detention order was quashed by the High Court on May 2, 2024.
The Court held that no specific fresh prejudicial activity had been attributed to Hajam after his release from the previous preventive custody, apart from an allegation that he had re-established contacts with terrorists.
The impugned detention order was based on stale grounds and that the authorities had relied substantially on the 2020 FIR despite the earlier quashing of the detention order and the grant of bail, the court noted.
The Court, in keeping with the supreme court decisions, reiterated that preventive detention must have a live and proximate link between past conduct and the immediate need for detention. The stale material, it said, could not form the basis for preventive detention unless it has a direct nexus with the immediate need to detain an individual.
Holding that the detention order May 7, 2025 was not in accordance with law, the court quashed the same and directed that Hajam be released from preventive custody forthwith.
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