Kashmir Impulse Desk
Srinagar, Sep 02
The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has quashed the preventive detention of a man from south Kashmir’s Pulwama district under the Public Safety Act (PSA), saying authorities failed to establish a live and proximate link between his past conduct and the need for continued preventive custody.
A bench of Justice M A Chowdhary ordered the immediate release of Suhail Fayaz Najar of Hariparigam in Awantipora, Pulwama, while quashing a detention order issued by the Pulwama district magistrate on July 10, 2025.
The court noted that the principal material relied upon by the authorities related to a 2021 FIR registered under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Najar had subsequently been granted bail by a competent court.
The court said awareness of the bail order was not enough and that the detaining authority had to establish fresh or continuing material showing a real and proximate likelihood of prejudicial activity after his release.
Subsequent proceedings against Najar under Sections 107 and 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure also did not provide sufficient grounds for preventive detention, the court said.
The record did not show that fresh material had emerged indicating that Najar was likely to engage in activities prejudicial to the security of the state, it said.
The court also held that reference to the Amarnath Yatra could not by itself justify preventive detention, saying a general apprehension surrounding a sensitive event could not replace specific material linking an individual to a security threat.
The court identified another procedural deficiency in the failure of authorities to establish that all material relied upon for the detention had been supplied to Najar.
It said the non-supply of the material impaired his constitutional right under Article 22(5) to make an effective representation against his detention.
