‘Detention Based On 5-Year-Old FIR Suggests Lack Of Proximate Link’: J&K&L High Court Quashes Preventive Detention Order Under Public Safety Act

The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court quashed a preventive detention order under the Public Safety Act, holding that reliance on a five-year-old FIR and outdated material did not establish a current threat to public safety. The Court underscored that preventive detention laws require proximate and live links between the alleged conduct and present danger. Old or stale incidents cannot justify continued detention. The decision reaffirmed constitutional safeguards under Article 21 and 22 and reinforced that extraordinary powers like preventive detention must be used strictly and sparingly, based on recent and credible evidence.