Jammu & Kashmir High Court: A Single Judge Bench of Rashid Ali Dar, J., allowed a petition filed against the order of respondent authorities, whereby petitioner was taken into preventive custody and lodged in Central Jail, Kotebhalwal, Jammu.
The main issue that arose before the Court was whether an order of preventive detention can be passed while the accused is already in police custody.
The Court observed that as per the judgment of Sama Aruna v. State of Telangana, (2018) 12 SCC 150, it is a settled proposition of law that a person cannot be taken into preventive detention while he is already in police custody. In that case, the Supreme Court had held that an order of preventive detention cannot be passed against an accused while considering a stale incident which took place a long time ago. The Court further observed that it was incumbent on the part of the person, who did the exercise of handing over the documents and conveying the contents thereof to the detenu, to file an affidavit in order to attach a semblance of fairness to his actions.
The Court held that the respondents in the instant matter had placed the petitioner under preventive detention while he was already in police custody; this action on the part of respondents is unjustified. Further, the respondents did not even supply the material to the petitioner, which formed the basis of the order of preventive detention. Resultantly, the petition was allowed and the order of preventive detention was quashed.[Farooq Ahmad Bhat v. State of J&K,2018 SCC OnLine J&K 924, order dated 01-12-2018]
