Detention grounds must be specific, IIOJK-HC says after quashing PSA order
Srinagar: Asserting that Courts are not barred from examining the grounds of detention, the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) High Court has ruled that the Court has the authority to examine the grounds for detention and ensure a prima facie connection between the grounds and the purpose of the detention order.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the Court has acknowledged the subjective satisfaction recorded by the detaining authority though cannot be critically examined by the Court as it does not function as appellate court a bench of Justice Puneet Gupta observed,
“Court is not barred from looking into the grounds of the detention and prima facie satisfy itself as to whether grounds had any co-relation with the purpose for which the detention order has been passed”, the court also observed.
These observations were made in response to a plea where Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Lone, represented by his mother Mehtaba, had challenged the order placing him under preventive detention.
Lone was detained under the PSA by the District Magistrate, Pulwama, based on allegations of supporting terrorist activities. Lone’s earlier detention order was quashed by the High Court in April 2022. However, the authorities issued a fresh detention order in June 2022 citing similar grounds.
