IIOJK High Court quashes PSA detention of Kashmiri man over unexplained delay
Srinagar: The High Court in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) has quashed the preventive detention of a Kashmiri man under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) ), citing an unexplained delay in initiating detention proceedings and serious doubts about the authorities’ justification for keeping him in preventive custody.
A bench of Justice Rajesh Sekhri set aside the detention order issued by District Magistrate, Islamabad on January 30, 2025, against Gulzar Ahmad Bhat, allowing his plea challenging the order.
The detention records showed that police had accused Bhat of involvement in alleged unlawful activities. Police claimed that he was in contact with associates of a banned organisation and provided financial and logistical support for its activities.
However, the court held that Bhat could not be arrested in the case due to insufficient evidence and was subsequently released on a surety bond.
While quashing his detention, the court noted that the alleged incident had occurred on January 10, 2024, but the sponsoring authority proposed his detention only on January 21, 2025, more than a year later. The District Magistrate issued the detention order on January 30, 2025.
The court observed that the delay in proposing detention, the time taken to issue the order and its non-execution for more than four months raised serious doubts about the genuineness of the authorities’ satisfaction regarding the necessity of placing Bhat under preventive detention.
