The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh at Srinagar has directed authorities not to detain the petitioners under the Public Safety Act (PSA) in connection with a criminal case, without prior permission of the Court.
Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Irfan Akbar Malla and others, who apprehended preventive detention under the PSA in relation to FIR registered at Police Station Batmaloo. The petitioners contended that the matter was already under investigation under substantive penal law and that invocation of preventive detention would be unwarranted.
During the hearing, the State submitted, on instructions, that as of now there was no intention to detain the petitioners under the PSA on the basis of the said FIR.
Taking note of this submission, the Court granted interim protection, directing that the petitioners shall not be detained in connection with the incident dated March 12, 2026 or the FIR in question without prior permission of the Court.
At the same time, the Court directed the petitioners to file an undertaking before the Registrar Judicial, affirming that they would not take the law into their own hands and would refrain from repeating the alleged conduct.
The respondents have been granted four weeks’ time to file their reply, and the matter is listed for further hearing on April 24, 2026.
Appearances:
For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Z. A. Shah, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Saleem Gul, Advocate.
For the Respondent(s): Mr. Mohsin Qadiri, Sr. AAG with Mr. Illiyas Nazir, GA
