Srinagar
Over the last month, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has quashed orders passed under the draconian Public Safety Act by the Jammu and Kashmir administration, ruling that it did not communicate the grounds of detention to the detained persons and hence violated fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution, reported The Indian Express.
According to report, this was the court’s verdict in at least five habeas corpus petitions challenging preventive detentions after August 5, when the government scrapped the special status of the state and split it into two Union Territories.
All five detainees have been ordered to be released, said the report.
According to report, in a strong indictment, the High Court said that the orders violated Article 22(5) of the Constitution which mandates the government to communicate to the detained person grounds on which the order has been made — and afford them the earliest opportunity of making a representation against the order.
“The only precious and valuable right guaranteed to a detenu is of making an effective representation against the order of detention. Such an effective representation can only be made by a detenu when he is supplied the relevant grounds of detention, including the materials considered by the detaining authority for arriving at the requisite subjective satisfaction to pass the detention order. Since the material is not supplied to the detenu, the right of the detenu to file such representation is impinged upon and the detention order is resultantly vitiated,” The Indian Express quoted the court as having said while quashing the orders.
