Srinagar, May 25: Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Tuesday quashed detention order under Public Safety Act against Muslim League leader Farooq Ahmad Bhat alias Tawheedi, a resident of Tawheed Bagh-Batpora in Sopore in north Kashmir.     

His son Irfan Farooq had filed the petition before the high court, seeking quashment of detention order (No. 102/DMB/PSA/2020) of 11 July 2020 passed by Deputy Commissioner Baramulla by virtue of which Tawheedi was booked under Section 13 of the J&K Public Safety Act, 1978.

“The law enjoins upon the detaining authority to be alive to all the facts and circumstances of the case and on application of mind to all those facts and circumstances, the detaining authority has to draw subjective satisfaction that the detention of the (detainee) becomes imperative,” a bench of Justice Javed Iqbal Wani said, adding, “In case all the facts are not brought to the notice of the detaining authority or that the detaining authority is not aware of all the facts and circumstances and without considering the same it derives subjective satisfaction to detain a person, the same would amounts to non-application of mind on its part.”

The court observed that there was no denial to the fact by the officials in the reply affidavit that Tawheedi stands released in all the FIRs registered against him.

“Even the order of detention, grounds of detention, so much so the record does not anywhere reveal or suggest that the detaining authority was aware about the fact,” the court said after hearing lawyers on both sides.

Subsequently, the court allowed the petition and quashed the detention order with the direction to the officials to release him forthwith from the preventive custody “unless the (detainee) is required in any other case.”