J&K&L High Court: Acts Committed as Juvenile Cannot Justify Preventive Detention

The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has held that illegal acts allegedly committed when a person was a juvenile cannot be used to justify a preventive detention order under the J&K Public Safety Act, 1978. 

The Bench quashed the detention of a 20-year-old, noting that the dossier relied primarily on an FIR registered when he was a minor. 

The Court reiterated that juveniles cannot be detained under the Act and that juvenile-stage allegations cannot contribute to the detaining authority’s “subjective satisfaction.”

The remaining grounds were found vague, lacking specific details, rendering the detention legally unsustainable.

[Tahir Riyaz Dar v. UT of J&K & Ors.]