'Disturbance to public peace and tranquility' not a ground for preventive detention: Jammu and Kashmir High Court

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh recently underscored that "disturbance to public peace and tranquility" is not a ground to subject a person to preventive detention under Section 8 of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act of 1978. [Naresh Kumar @ Chipu V/S U.T of J&K].Justice Rahul Bharti passed the order while quashing preventive detention orders passed by the District Magistrate of Kathua against a man, who has remained detained since February 18, 2023. "There is no reference in section 8 of the Act of 1978 for disturbance of public peace and tranquility as ahead whereupon a person can be subjected to preventive detention but the District Magistrate, Kathua legislated a new head for subjecting the petitioner in the case to suffer preventive detention with effect from the date of passing of his detention order," the Court observed..The Court proceeded to criticised the Jammu and Kashmir government and the Advisory Board for not catching this fundamental flaw in the Magistrate's detention order before confirming it. .Notably, Justice Bharti also found that the first of the three detention orders against the detenue was passed ten days after he was detained. While the detention order was passed on February 28, he was already placed under detention on February 18, the Court found. ."There cannot be a more sorry state of affairs in the matter of exercise of preventive detention jurisdiction," the judge remarked. .The High Court was hearing a plea by one Naresh Kumar @ Chipu who had challenged three preventive detention orders passed against him.The detentions orders were passed to allegedly to prevent him from committing more offences and to maintain the public peace and tranquility among the public at large..The Court, however, noted that there were six grounds for preventive detention mentioned in Section 8 of the Public Safety Act including the maintaining the security of Jammu and Kashmir, maintenance of public order, prevention of smuggling timber or liquor, and related activities.Pertinently, the provision has not laid down "disturbance to public peace and tranquility" as a ground to subject a citizen of India to preventive detention, the Court found. Therefore, it ordered the immediate release of the detenue, Kumar. "The detention in the present case is ex-facie bad in the eyes of law and by no stretch of reference and reasoning it can be salvaged by the respondents leaving no option to this Court but to quash the detention order of the petitioner so passed by the District Magistrate, Kathua read with all the consequent Govt. orders legitimizing the detention of the petitioner and is, accordingly, quashed," the Court ruled. Advocate Jagpaul Singh appeared for the petitioner/ detenue, Kumar. Deputy Advocate General Dewakar Sharma represented the government authorities. .[Read Order]