The court held that preventive detention requires substantiated and lawful justifications, ruling against arbitrary state authority.

1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner as well as Mr. Pawan Dev Singh, learned Dy. AG for the respondents. Perused the pleadings and the record therewith. Also perused the detention record produced by Mr. Pawan Dev Singh, learned Dy. AG.

2. By referring to his profile as a committed local journalist working as a Bureau Chief of Zee News Urdu and associated with causes of common man highlighting the problems of area in general and of victims of law enforcement agencies in particular, the petitioner has come forward being in a state of preventive detention custody, with the institution of the present writ petition on 27.03.2024 assailing exercise of preventive detention jurisdiction against him to be mala fide in all intent and purposes, being a brain child of the SHO Police Station Gursai, tehsil Mendhar, district Poonch and is, therefore, seeking exercise of writ jurisdiction of this Court under Art.226 of the Constitution of India for a writ of habeas corpus for the sake of restoration of his lost personal liberty which has remained deprived to him with effect from 10.03.2024 onwards.

3. Right to life and personal liberty enshrined under Art.21 of the Constitution of India ensures guarantee to every person / citizen with or without social / professional status whatever that may be, and is, thus, concerned with person rather than with personality. A person whose fundamental right to life and liberty gets wronged at the hands of State and its functionaries is entitled to his / her remedy under the constitutional jurisdiction of this Court under Art.226 of the Constitution of India and that is good enough for a constitutional Court to take notice of violation / infringement of fundamental right under Art.21 of the Constitution of India and come to the rescue of a person having suffered injury to his said fundamental right.

4. With this observation as a prelude, this Court proceeds to deal with the adjudication of the present writ petition not needing to make any reference to the petitioner's social / professional calling as stated in the writ petition.

5. The petitioner is a resident of village Nakhamanjari, tehsil Mendhar, district Poonch and is 45 years old person filing this writ petition acting through his father Nazir Hussain.

6. The respondent No.4 - Sr. Superintendent of Police (SSP), Poonch came to address a letter No.CS / PSA / 2024/1160 dated 29.02.2024 to the respondent No.3 - District Magistrate, Poonch thereby submitting a 48 pages dossier with respect to the petitioner on the basis of which the preventive detention of the petitioner was solicited purportedly on the basis that the petitioner's activities are against order, morals and culture of society which warrants his detention to prevent from him from indulging in repeated criminal acts / anti - social activities and to maintain public order.

7. In the dossier, the respondent No.4 - Sr. Superintendent of Police (SSP), Poonch has started by reference to the adulthood of the petitioner alleging his indulgences in felonious activities including in anti - social acts etc., when despite legal and counselling measures adopted by the Police, the petitioner is alleged to have graduated into a hardcore criminal thereby posing serious threat to the health and welfare of the people of district Poonch bearing an adverse impact on peace and order in the society.

8. As per the respondent No. 4 - Sr. Superintendent of Police (SSP), Poonch, the manner in which the petitioner repeatedly commits criminal acts is a matter of great concern which has created disturbance in the peaceful living of General Public and, thus, needs to be stopped immediately. The petitioner is