Jammu & Kashmir High Court: A Single Judge Bench of H.K. Hanjura, J., allowed a Writ Petition filed against the order of detention passed by the respondent authorities.
The petitioner was already in custody in connection with a criminal case and this formed the basis for passing of a detention order against the petitioner.
The Court, in this case, observed that the custody of petitioner in the concerned criminal case had been converted into detention as per the impugned order. Such an order was passed on an assumption that if the detenue applies for bail then he might succeed but if it was the case then the detaining authority could have resisted the bail application itself instead of taking the extreme step of passing a detention order. The respondent authorities could have taken recourse to the ordinary law of the land.
The Court held that life and liberty of citizens of the State are of paramount importance and a citizen cannot be deprived of personal liberty, guaranteed to him/her by the Constitution, except in due course of law and for the purposes sanctioned by law. The Court allowed the petition and quashed the order of detention passed by the respondent authorities. [Mohammad Younis Sofi v. State of J&K, 2018 SCC OnLine J&K 669, Order dated 24-09-2018]
