The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has upheld the preventive detention of a person namely Musavir Nabi Bhat under the J&K Public Safety Act, 1978, dismissing his challenge to the detention order dated 29 January 2026.
The petitioner contended that the impugned order was the third successive detention order founded on the same allegations and FIRs that had formed the basis of two earlier detention orders, both of which had been quashed by the High Court. He argued that the fresh order reflected non-application of mind.
Rejecting the plea, the Court held that the detention was based on fresh, proximate material indicating that the detenu had resumed activities prejudicial to the security of the Union Territory after his release.
The Court observed:
“The detaining authority has applied independent mind to fresh, proximate and sufficiently particularized material demonstrating imminent threat to the security of the State.”
It further held:
“To say that mere reference to the earlier material amounts to repetition is neither factually correct nor legally tenable.”
The Court noted that recent intelligence inputs, proceedings initiated under the BNSS, and contemporaneous entries in the police beat book established a live and proximate link between the detenu’s alleged activities and the detention order.
Emphasising the limited scope of judicial review, the Court observed:
“Once the procedural requirement under the Act of 1978… and the mandate of Article 22(5) of the Constitution are complied with, this Court cannot sit in appeal over the subjective satisfaction of the detaining authority.”
Relying on Haradhan Saha v. State of West Bengal (1974), the Court reiterated:
“The power of preventive detention is a precautionary power exercised in reasonable anticipation.”
Holding that there was no illegality, procedural irregularity, or violation of constitutional safeguards, the Court dismissed the habeas corpus petition and upheld the detention order.
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