High Court stay halts compensation for detained man from Pulwama

SRINAGAR — A recent order by the Single Bench of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh quashing the preventive detention of a 22-year-old man from southern Kashmir’s Pulwama district and awarding him two lakh rupees compensation has been stayed by a division bench.

According to Srinagar-based news gathering agency KDC, the order, issued on April 2, 2024, by a single bench of Justice Rahul Bharti, quashed the preventive detention of a 22-year-old man and awarded him a compensation of two lakh rupees. However, a division bench of the High Court has now stayed the single judge’s order.

According to details, the man was initially detained under Section 8 of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act. Justice Rahul Bharti, in his original ruling, deemed the detention illegal and a violation of the man’s fundamental right to liberty.

The court further criticized the district magistrate’s application of the Act and awarded compensation for the wrongful detention.

The young man’s father had approached the High Court, challenging the legality of the detention. The petitioner was accused of providing logistical support to militants and sharing information with a militant group. However, the court found insufficient grounds for preventive detention under the amended Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, which no longer lists “security of the State” as a justification.

The latest development comes after a division bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice N. Kotiswar Singh and Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi, reviewed the original report used to justify the detention. On June 7, 2024, the bench issued a stay order on the single judge’s ruling.

The stay puts the compensation award and the man’s release on hold until the division bench reaches a final decision following a hearing scheduled for July 9, 2024.