Jammu & Kashmir High Court Upholds Preventive Detention Of Man Accused In Srinagar DySP Lynching Case

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Wednesday upheld the preventive detention of a man who is also the main accused in the DySP lynching case that occurred in Srinagar's Nowhatta area in 2017.The incident dates back to the intervening night of 22nd and 23rd June 2017 when a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) of the security wing of J&K Police was lynched to death by a mob outside Jamia Masjid in Srinagar's Nowhatta area. The officer was deployed at the mosque to supervise security personnel during a large gathering on the eve of Shab-i-Qadr. The mob attacked the officer, snatched his service pistol, and brutally thrashed him until he succumbed to the injuries. Wani was thereafter detained under the J&K Public Safety Act 1978 to prevent him from engaging in any further illegal activities. The petitioner, however, contended that he was granted bail in the lynching case, which the detaining authority failed to consider.He also challenged the order on grounds of vagueness in allegations and the lack of fresh activity attributed to him since 2017. Additionally, the petitioner claimed that the detaining authority did not prepare the grounds of detention independently and relied solely on the police dossier.Justice M A Chowdhary, while deciding his Habeas Corpus petition stated that the legal position regarding preventive detention of a person already in custody for a substantive offence is well settled. Preventive detention of such individuals is generally not ordered, but it can be done if there are compelling reasons to believe that the person might be released on bail or due to acquittal or discharge in the substantive offence, the court said.The court also emphasized that preventive detention is not punitive but only preventive in nature, aimed at protecting society and further observed that the grounds of detention and the detaining authority's satisfaction were based on material indicating Wani's involvement in the DySP lynching case. "Detenue along-with other antinational elements attacked the said officer and snatched his service pistol and thrashed him ruthlessly till he succumbed to the beating and died on spot. The accused persons didn’t stop there but inhumanely dragged the dead body of the deceased out from the area adjacent to the mosque, tore his clothes and left the body without clothes and other belongings," Court observed.The petitioner's claim of not receiving relevant material for making an effective representation was dismissed, as the detenue had been provided with copies of the detention warrants, grounds of detention, dossier, and other related documents.Observing that courts do not even go into the questions as to whether the facts mentioned in the grounds of detention are correct or false, Justice Chowdhary observed,“This Court, while examining the material, which is made basis of subjective satisfaction of the detaining authority, would not act as a court of appeal and find fault with the satisfaction on the ground that on the basis of the material before detaining authority another view was possible”.In view of the same the bench found the petition devoid of any merit and accordingly dismissed the same:Case Title: Imran Nabi Wani Vs UT of J&KCitation: 2023 LiveLaw (JKL) 204Counsel For Petitioner: Mr. Wajid Haseeb.Counsel For Respondent: Mr. Mohsin Qadri, Sr.AAG with Mr. Taha Khalil, Assisting counsel.Click Here To Read/Download Judgment

Jammu & Kashmir High Court Upholds Preventive Detention Of Man Accused In Srinagar DySP Lynching Case

Basit Amin Makhdoomi

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