JAMMU, May 26: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has set aside the detention order issued under the Public Safety Act (PSA) against Royal Singh, directing authorities to release him from preventive custody, provided he is not required in connection with any other criminal case.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Mohd Yousaf Wani, who held that the grounds cited for detaining the petitioner did not meet the threshold required under the provisions of the PSA. The court observed that the alleged conduct of Royal Singh, as outlined by the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jammu, may have warranted legal action under routine criminal law for breach of “law and order,” but did not rise to the level of disturbing “public order,” which is a necessary condition for invoking the PSA.
“The materials relied upon by the detaining authority do not justify the application of the Public Safety Act. The activities attributed to the petitioner, while potentially violating certain laws, were already being dealt with through the existing legal framework. Resorting to preventive detention in such a case, instead of pursuing regular criminal prosecution, amounts to an arbitrary and excessive use of executive power and constitutes a violation of the petitioner’s fundamental rights,” Justice Wani stated in the verdict.
The court further emphasized the principle that preventive detention must be exercised with caution and only in exceptional circumstances. It added that the detention order in this case reflected a clear “non-application of mind” on the part of the detaining authority, which is a settled ground for quashing such orders under constitutional jurisprudence.
“Detention orders that lack proper application of mind by the competent authority are unsustainable in law,” the court asserted, highlighting that preventive detention laws are not meant to substitute or override due process and criminal justice mechanisms already in place.
In light of these findings, the court ordered the immediate release of Royal Singh from preventive detention, subject to the condition that he is not already under arrest or required in any other ongoing legal matter.