Ideology Of Detenu Like A 'Live Volcano': J&K HC Upholds Detention Of HC Bar Association President Mian Abdul Qayoom [Read Judgment]

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday upheld the Government orders relating to preventive detention of Senior Advocate and J&K High Court Bar Association President Mian Abdul Qayoom, under the J&K Public Safety Act 1978. The court has held that the 70-year old detenue has a "tendency" of disturbing law and order and thus, it will not be appropriate to interfere with the impugned order of detention.The Court observed that he had an ideology like a "live volcano"."Having considered the matter, we may say that an ideology of the nature reflected in the FIRs and alleged against the detenue herein is like a live volcano. The ideology has always an inclination, a natural tendency to behave in a particular way It is often associated with an intense, natural inclination and preference of the person to behave in the way his ideology drives him to achieve his latent and expressed objectives and when he happens to head or leading a group, as the allegations contained in the FIRs suggest, his single point agenda remains that his ideology is imbued in all those whom he leads. Depending upon the nature of the ideology one has, he can have short term, continuous and long term objectives and strategies". "An ideology that has the effect and potential of nurturing a tendency of disturbance in public order, such as is reflected in the FIRs registered against the detenue in the instant case, and of which the detaining authority is reasonably satisfied, can be said to be different from a criminal act or acts done sometime in the past and, therefore, would always continue to be proximate in their impact and consequence," the order states. The order has been passed by a Division Bench comprising of Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey and Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul, in a Letters Patent Appeal against the February 7 order of the single bench, whereby the habeas corpus petition challenging Qayoom's detention was dismissed. Qayoom has been under detention since August 5, when the Central Government took measures to abrogate the special status of J&K under Article 370 of the Constitution of India. In this appeal, the following grounds (in bold) were taken by Qayoom, which stand adjudicated as below: Detenue was not supplied all the materials on the basis of which the detaining authority had derived the requisite satisfaction On this issue the court held that even a solitary ground was sufficient to sustain the detention order and thus, merely because detenue was not supplied all the materials on the basis of which the detaining authority had derived the requisite satisfaction would not affect the detention order. The court then observed that most of the grounds considered by the detaining authority were "somewhat clumsy" however it held that the same would not affect the detention order since the authority had recorded its "satisfaction" on a number of grounds. Emphasizing on one such ground the court held, "in one of the grounds of detention, quoted separately hereinabove, the detaining authority has exclusively considered the four FIRs registered against the detenue, and expressed his satisfaction therein on the basis of such FIRs, independent of the other materials referred to by him in other grounds of detention. In that view of the matter, in terms of Section 10-A(a) of the JK PSA, the detaining authority shall be deemed to have made the impugned order of detention after being satisfied with reference to the aforesaid ground of detention. So the detention order on that ground would sustain." Section 10-A(a) of the JK PSA provides that where a person has been detained under the PSA Act on the basis of two or more grounds, such order of detention shall be deemed to have been made separately on each of such grounds and will not be deemed to be invalid or inoperative merely because one of some of the grounds is or are vague, etc. Going by the aforesaid provision the court said, "the grounds of detention are severable and, therefore, a detention order would sustain even on a solitary single ground contained in the grounds of detention, independent of the other grounds, in the event the necessary procedural safeguards vis-à-vis that ground have duly been adhered to by the detaining authority." Argument that FIRs and the allegations contained in the detention order are stale – 9 to 11 years old – having no proximity to lend a suspicion to the detaining authority that the detenue may disturb public order Declining this argument, the court noted that two of the four FIRs as mentioned above related to processions taken out by the members of the Srinagar Bar Association lead by the detenue, allegedly leading to violation of order issued under Section 144 CrPC. Thus, finding "continued propensity" of the detenue of indulging in activities that are fundamentally prejudicial to the maintenance of public order the bench remarked, "In...

Ideology Of Detenu Like A 'Live Volcano': J&K HC Upholds Detention Of HC Bar Association President Mian Abdul Qayoom [Read Judgment]

Akshita Saxena

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