J&K High Court Scraps 5 PSA Detention Orders, Slams Government indianexpress.com

OVER the last month, the Jammu & Kashmir High Court has quashed orders passed under the draconian Public Safety Act by the Jammu & 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. 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. 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.