MEHMOOD AHMED Vs. UNION TERRITORY OF J&K

JUDGEMENT

(1.) District Magistrate, Poonch (hereinafter called 'Detaining Authority') in exercise of powers under Sec. 8 of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 (for short, 'Act of 1978'), passed the detention Order No. 03/DMP/PSA of 2023 dtd. 12/4/2023 (for short 'impugned order"), in terms whereof the detenue namely Mehmood Ahmed S/O Talib Hussain R/O Deri Dabsi A/P Kotain Tehsil Mendhar, District Poonch (for short 'detenue") has been ordered to be detained.

(2.) The impugned detention order has been challenged through the medium of the instant petition, being illegal and arbitrary alleging that the Detaining Authority had passed the order exhibiting complete non-application of mind as though he relied upon two cases registered against the petitioner by the police but did not consider as to what had happened to those cases as in one of the case he has been acquitted after trial and another case he had been admitted to bail but the Detaining Authority fail to make any reference of those development in the detention order; that the requisite material on which the detention order was based was not supplied to the petitioner, as such, the detention order is vitiated on that count as the petitioner's right to make effective representation has been denied; that the detention order and the grounds of detention have been supplied to the detenue in English language which he does not understand and the copy of that material was not available to him in a transcript in a language which he may be understandable to him; that the Detaining Authority has not recorded in the detention order with regard to the period of detention which also shows the non-application of mind; that there is no live and proximate link between the alleged prejudicial activities and the detention order.

(3.) Respondents despite several opportunities have failed to file their counter affidavit, however, detention record was produced by the learned Government Advocate for perusal and consideration.