Preventive detention under the Public Safety Act is justified based on repeated criminal activities, even if prior acquittals exist, provided all statutory requirements are met.

JUDGMENT :

01. Through the medium of this Habeas Corpus Petition, the petitioner-Shafiq Hussain Shah @ Shabu (hereinafter called ‘detenue’) seeks quashment of Order No. 7/DMP/PSA of 2024 dated 23.04.2024 (hereinafter called ‘detention order’) passed by the respondent No. 2- District Magistrate, Poonch (hereinafter called ‘detaining authority’) whereby and whereunder in terms of Section 8 of the Public Safety Act, 1978 (for short, PSA Act), he had been ordered to be detained in order to prevent him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the public order.

02. The detenue has pleaded that the grounds of detention are verbatim repeat of dossier of respondent No. 3 and the detaining authority without due application of mind has passed the impugned detention order; that the detenue has been acquitted in all the cases mentioned in the impugned detention order and the detaining authority has not taken into consideration this aspect of the matter while passing the impugned detention order; that so far as adverse reports dated 01.12.2023 and 20.12.2023 of Police Station, Poonch and preventive action under section 107/117 CrPC are concerned, the detenue is not aware of the same as he was never summoned by the said police station ever or by the Tehsildar concerned; that the detenue is an illiterate person and is not able to read or understand English and the detaining authority has not furnished to the detenue the translated version of the material and also the complete documents depriving him to make an effective representation; that when the family members of the detenue went to the concerned Police Station to enquire about his son, he was informed that the detenue has been detained under Public Safety Act.

03. The detenue has pleaded in the grounds of his petition that the detenue has not been afforded opportunity to make effective representation due to incomplete detention order along with incomplete dossier provided by the detaining authority, that too, in English language, which has not been made understandable to the detenue in the language known to him.

04. Pursuant to notice, the respondent No. 2-District Magistrate, Poonch in his counter affidavit has stated that after carefully examining the dossier and the relevant records attached with it, the detenue has rightly been detained under PSA; that at the time of execution of detention order, the Executing Officer has provided the complete set of dossier along with detention order, grounds of detention (total 87 leaves) and explained the detention order in the language i.e., Urdu which the detenue understands fully; and lastly that the impugned detention order has been issued after fulfilling all the statutory requirements and all constitutional guarantees have been complied with.

05. Learned counsel for the detenue, reiterating the submissions made in the petition, has argued that the detenue had been detained illegally by the detaining authority, without application of mind and based only on the dossier prepared by the police; that the detaining authority has not supplied the relevant material to the detenue on the basis of which grounds of detention have been formulated depriving him to make an effective representation; that the contents of the grounds of detention has not been explained to the detenue in the language which he understood fully. It was finally prayed that the impugned detention order be quashed and the detenue be ordered to be released forthwith from custody.

06. Learned counsel for the respondents, ex adverso, argued that the detaining authority, after carefully examining the dossier and the relevant records attached with it, found imperative to detain the detune under the J&K Public Safety Act as the detenue after being acquitted in the cases mentioned in the grounds of detention was again involved in the criminal activities; that the detenue has been provided the complete set of dossier along with detention order, grounds of detention and explained the detention o