SRINAGAR: In a significant judicial observation, Principal Sessions Judge Kishtwar has asserted that only a constitutional court has the jurisdiction to examine the validity of preventive detention orders issued under the Public Safety Act (PSA). He emphasised that magisterial courts do not possess the authority to comment on such orders, which fall exclusively within the domain of the government.
The observation came during the hearing of a revision petition filed by the administration, challenging a contempt order passed by a Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in a cattle smuggling case. The CJM had initiated contempt proceedings against the Deputy Commissioner and Senior Superintendent of Police for detaining an individual under the PSA, despite the person being granted bail in the case.
“Slapping of PSA is the domain and prerogative of the Government, and courts have no jurisdiction in that matter because this is not substantive law but rather a preventive measure. The police and administration are well within their powers to exercise this right, keeping in view the specific facts and circumstances of a particular case,” the judge ruled. “It is only the Constitutional Court that can ponder the validity of such an order of PSA, and the Magisterial courts don’t have jurisdiction to comment upon such preventive orders.”
The Sessions Court, after hearing the arguments presented by Advocate Rajesh Sharma on behalf of the state, put the CJM’s order in abeyance and issued a notice to the respondents. The matter has been scheduled for a hearing on August 28.
The Judge also voiced strong objections to the actions of the Jammu and Kashmir police, accusing them of “circumventing” a bail order and detaining an individual under the PSA. In a scathing remark, the judge questioned whether the judiciary should “bow down to the police state and their choices or do we want to be ruled as per the law and the procedure laid down?”
The controversy began in July when the Jammu and Kashmir police arrested four individuals—Sher Muhammad, Saleem Parvaiz, Musavir Ahmed, and Arfan Hussain—all residents of Lower Pochal in Kishtwar district, on charges of bovine slaughter. Despite being granted interim bail on July 18 by the CJM, one of the accused, Sher Muhammad, was not released and was instead booked under the PSA.
According to court documents, Sher Muhammad’s PSA dossier claims his detention is based on the FIR and 16 Daily Dairy Reports (DDR) registered in various police stations across Kishtwar district. The decision to detain him under the PSA has drawn criticism from his legal representatives, who filed a contempt petition against the police for violating the bail order.
