Legal provisions involved: Section 8, J&K Public Safety Act, 1978; Article 22(5) of the Constitution of India; Sections 107/151 CrPC

Judgement by: High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh

Judge/Bench: Justice Sanjay Dhar

Facts

Waseem Ahmad Dar was detained under the Public Safety Act in February 2024 on the ground that his activities and social-media posts were harmful to the security of the State. He challenged the detention, saying the order was illegal, vague, and issued without following the required constitutional safeguards.

Key legal provisions

• Section 8, J&K Public Safety Act, 1978
• Article 22(5) of the Constitution of India
• Sections 107/151 CrPC (now Section 126 and  170 of BNSS, 2023)

Issues raised

• Whether the detention order was passed without proper procedure?
• Whether complete material was not given to the detenue, and the authority acted mechanically?

Arguments of the case

The petitioner argued that he was not given all documents and that the grounds were vague and copied from the police dossier. He also claimed his representation was not considered. The UT government argued that all documents were served, explained to him, and that his Facebook uploads showed activities posing a security threat.

Judgement

The High Court held that the petitioner had received all relevant material, including the dossier, complaints under Sections 107/151 CrPC, and screenshots of his Facebook posts. The judge found that the detaining authority applied its mind and did not merely repeat the police dossier. Since the alleged activities were based on social-media content promoting anti-national views, the authorities were justified in using preventive detention. The court refused to interfere with the order.

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