Judgment

SINHA J. : This application for a writ of hebeas corpus is directed against the State of Jammu and Kashmir which has by its order dated 4-10-1955, directed the detention of the petitioner under S. 3, Jammu and Kashmir Preventive Detention Act, (Jammu and Kashmir Act 4 of 2011) hereinafter to be referred to as "the Act".

Originally, the sole respondent impleaded was the State of Jammu & Kashmir. After a rule nisi was issued to the respondent, the Union of India intervened because the petitioner had challenged the validity of the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954.

2. The petitioner, P. L. Lakhanpal, aged approximately 28 years, describing himself as the Chairman, End Kashmir Dispute Committee, has moved this Court against the order of the State detaining him in Kothi Bagh sub-jail in Srinagar. The application is based on the following allegations. The petitioner is normally a resident of 9821, Nawabganj, Delhi 6. He went to Kashmir on a permit on 24th September this year "on a study-cum-pleasure trip".

He has been evincing keen interest in Kashmir politics since the year 1946, when as General Secretary of the Congress Socialist Party Lahore, he was