The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court recently quashed a preventive detention order issued under the J&K Public Safety Act (PSA) against a man accused of involvement in cases of bovine smuggling [Yaqoob Hussain V/s UT of J&K]

Justice Javed Iqbal Wani said the authorities failed to show that detainee Yaqoob Hussain’s actions had caused any communal disharmony justifying his preventive detention.

"It is nowhere spelt out or indicated that on account of the commission of offences by the petitioner under the Act of 1960, any incident of communal disharmony got resulted in the area and in the process same became an eminent threat to the maintenance of public order thus necessitating the preventive detention of the petitioner in this regard," the Court observed.

Hussain, detained by the District Magistrate of Kathua, challenged his preventive detention, contending that the allegations levelled against him in cases under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act did not amount to activities prejudicial to the maintenance of public order.

In response, the State termed Hussain a habitual offender allegedly involved in multiple cases of bovine smuggling. It stated that there was a potential threat of communal disharmony in the area. 

However, the Court did not find any material in the detention record to substantiate the allegations. It also found that there was a delay in both the passing and execution of the detention order.

Relying on the Supreme Court judgment in KPM Basheer v. Union of India, the Court noted that a preventive detention order must have a live and proximate link with the grounds of detention.

Accordingly, the Court quashed the detention order and directed Hussain's immediate release from jail.

Advocate Azmat Ullah Parihar appeared for the petitioner.

Govt Advocate Suneel Malhotra appeared for the State.

[Read Judgment]