SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir high court on Friday quashed the preventive detention of a man booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for alleged involvement in anti-national activities.The detainee, Sajad Ahmad Bhat of Drabgam, Pulwama, was represented by Zameer Abdullah and Zahir Abdullah, the two sons of J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah.According to the judgment, Bhat was placed under preventive detention after being accused in FIR No. 119 of 2020 at Police Station Rajpora for offenses punishable under the Indian Arms Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.The Pulwama district magistrate, in a detention order on April 30, 2025, had stated that Bhat had “re-activated his contacts” and was “in close touch with active terrorists in the area”, enabling them to evade arrest. The order had described his activities as “highly prejudicial to the security of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir” and warranting preventive detention under the PSA.Pleading before a single bench of Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi, the defense lawyers argued that Bhat had already been arrested in the 2020 FIR and was later released on bail by a competent court on Nov 13, 2023 in the case.In its order, the HC observed that “the counsel for the petitioner have successfully shown that the detainee had been granted bail by a competent court of law, and the impugned detention order, based on the same FIR, is an outcome of stale allegations”.The bench said the detention order issued in 2025 was based on a case registered in 2020, terming it “stale” and lacking a “proximate link” between the alleged actions and the present security situation.The HC directed that the petition be allowed, the detention order be quashed and the respondents directed to release the detainee forthwith if not required in any other case.The judgment comes at a time when PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has moved the HC seeking the return to the UT of all undertrials held in jails outside Jammu and Kashmir.Outside the HC in Jammu on Monday, Mehbooba said they were hoping that the elected government would take action on the issue of undertrial prisoners lodged in jails outside J&K.National Conference, however, used the judgment to criticize Mehbooba. “While Mehbooba Mufti opts for theatricals with zero benefit to those under detention, Zamir and Zahir quietly do the real work, offering help, legal aid, and support without the drama. What’s needed isn’t noise outside courts but action inside them,” NC spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said. “National Conference remains committed to advocating the release of those with minor or no charges, and to ensuring that others lodged in distant jails across the country are brought back to J&K,” he said.
