"Speculative Apprehension" Not Enough for Detention: J&K High Court Quashes PSA Order

The Jammu & Kashmir High Court quashed a preventive detention order under the Public Safety Act, 1978, ruling that a "live nexus" must exist between a person's conduct and the threat to security.

The Court found that detaining individuals based on vague apprehensions of potential election disturbances is unconstitutional.

It criticized the "mechanical" reproduction of police dossiers by detaining authorities without independent application of mind.

Justice Sanjay Dhar remarked that personal liberty is a fundamental right that cannot be compromised by "hollowed dubiety" or speculative fears, reinforcing that preventive detention must be based on proximate and credible material.

[Maqsad Ali Kohli v. Union Territory of J&K & Ors.]