The main legal point established in the judgment is that the detaining authority must exercise independent judgment and inform the detainee of the right to make a representation against the detention order.

JUDGMENT :

1. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the writ pleadings and the record therewith.

2. The petitioner is aggrieved of an Order No. PITNDPS14 of 2023 dated 08.05.2023 (in short ‘detention order’) passed by the respondent No. 2-Divisional Commissioner, Jammu whereby the petitioner has been ordered to be detained and lodged in District Jail, Kishtwar by reference to exercise of power under Section 3 of the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988 (in short ‘PITNDPS Act, 1988’) read with SRO 247 dated 27.07.1988.

3. Pursuant to the issuance of this detention order, the petitioner came to be detained on 19.05.2023 by the Detention Order Executing Officer PSI Anil Kumar PID No. EXJ-196712 of Police Station, Kishtwar and came to be lodged in District Jail, Kishtwar.

4. It is the respondent No. 3-Senior Superintendent of Police, Kishtwar who had solicited preventive detention of the petitioner by submission of a dossier forwarded vide letter No. CS/PITNDPS/2023/5733-35/C dated 03.05.2023 wherein the respondent No. 3-Senior Superintendent of Police, Kishtwar came to present the petitioner to be a notorious criminal/drug peddler/habitual smuggler engaged in the sale and purchase of narcotic substances besides engaged in spreading drug addiction in the area.

5. In connection with the petitioner’s alleged indulgences, the respondent No. 3-Senior Superintendent of Police, Kishtwar in his said dossier came to refer to registration of an FIR No. 51/2022 dated 17.6.2022 under Section 8/21/22 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (in short, ‘NDPS Act, 1985’) registered by the Police Station Chatroo for alleged possession of contraband (Chitta) weighing 18 grams and an FIR No. 87/2023 dated 23.04.2023 under Section 8/21/22 NDPS Act, 1985 registered by the Police Station Kishtwar for alleged possession of contraband (Chitta) weighing 03 grams.

6. In the dossier with respect of FIR No. 51/2022, the petitioner is said to have been subjected to suffer and stand a criminal trial initiated vide Police Challan No. 137/2022 dated 08.09.2022 in which case the petitioner is said to be on bail whereas with respect to second FIR No. 87/2023, the same was said to be under investigation with the petitioner being on bail.

7. It is by reference to the said two FIRs that the petitioner was profiled to be a person whose activities are reckoned to be prejudicial to the object and purpose of PITNDPS Act, 1988 warranting his preventive detention.

8. Acting upon the said dossier of the respondent No. 3-Senior Superintendent of Police, Kishtwar, the respondent No. 2-Divisional Commissioner, Jammu came to formulate grounds of detention for enabling him to draw a subjective satisfaction for ordering the preventive detention of the petitioner.

9. In the grounds of detention, the highlighting features came to be the aforesaid two FIRs in order to generate subjective satisfaction to the respondent No. 2-Divisional Commissioner, Jammu that the petitioner was to be detained by preventive detention mode as rest is nothing but opinion statement of the respondent No. 3 and the respondent No. 2.

10. The petitioner in his writ petition has assailed his preventive detention to be illegal and misconceived besides being in breach of procedural safeguards provided and envisaged under PITNDPS, 1988.

11. In the response to the writ petition, the respondent No. 2-Divisional Commissioner, Jammu came forward with the reply from his own end whereas the respondent No. 3-Senior Superintendent of Police, Kishtwar came forward with reply from his respective end.

12. In the reply by the respondent No. 3-Senior Superintendent of Police, Kishtwar filed on 12.09.2023, it came to be disclosed that while the petitioner was on bail in connection with the trial of case with respect to FIR No. 51/2022, he violated the bail conditions by indulging in the second time alleged commission of offence for which FIR No. 87/2023 ca