Srinagar, July 25: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh Tuesday held that the object of preventive detention is not to punish a man for having done something but to intercept before he does it and to prevent him from doing so.
Referring to the Supreme Court’s 2005 judgment, ‘Naresh Kumar Goyal v. Union of India & Ors, a bench of Justice M. A. Chowdhary said that the top court has held that an order of detention is not a curative or reformative or punitive but a preventive action devised to afford protection to society.
“….Preventive detention is devised to afford protection to society,” the court said, adding, “The object is not to punish a man for having done something but to intercept before he does it and to prevent him from doing so.” The court made the observation while dismissing a petition filed by one Fayaz Ahmad Kumar of Khanpora Baramulla, seeking quashing of an order under PSA on 18-10-2021 by District Magistrate Jammu against him.
Meanwhile the court quashed two detention orders under Public Safety Act and ordered the authorities to release them forthwith if not needed in any other case.
“It needs no emphasis that the detenue cannot be expected to make a meaningful exercise of his constitutional and statutory rights guaranteed under Article 22(5) of the Constitution of India to make representation against his detention, unless and until the material on which the detention is based, is supplied to the detenue,” the court said while quashing detention order passed by District Magistrate Shopian on 9 April last year against Fahim Ahmad Check of Nowgam Shopian. The court also quashed the detention order against Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat of Naikpora Seeloo Sopore passed by District Magistrate Baramulla on 27 February 2020.
