The Gauhati High Court has set aside the National Security Act (NSA) detention of AIUDF legislator Aminul Islam, holding that the state failed to follow mandatory constitutional safeguards. A division bench of Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Rajesh Mazumdar quashed the May 2025 detention orders and directed authorities to release the three-time MLA, unless required in any other case.
Court: Detenue Was Not Informed of His Fundamental Right to Represent
Islam was arrested on April 24 on charges including sedition after a video of his public remarks—made during a panchayat poll campaign—went viral. The state accused him of making “misleading and instigating” statements in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack that killed at least 26 people, including tourists.
The High Court found that the preventive detention was vitiated because mandatory procedural requirements were ignored.
Quoting from the order, the bench noted:
- “The petitioner was not informed about his right to prefer a representation to the detaining authority itself either when the order dated 14.05.2025 was served on him or at any time thereafter.”
- His right to make a representation to the central government was conveyed 23 days later, and only after the Centre reminded state authorities of this obligation.
The court said this delay and omission “is alone sufficient to vitiate the detention imposed on the petitioner.”
Bench Rejects State’s Explanation for Delays
The judges noted that there was no explanation for the time taken by various authorities to process Islam’s representation. They also recorded that key rights were communicated to him only after central authorities intervened.
The bench held that when constitutional safeguards are breached, the detention cannot stand:
- “What follows from the above is that the detaining authority, while issuing an order of preventive detention of a citizen, did not follow the rigours attached as conditions for exercise of the powers.”
Given this violation, the court said it was unnecessary to consider the other grounds raised in the petition.
Detention Orders Set Aside
Allowing Islam’s plea, the bench held:
- “The impugned orders dated 14.05.2025 and 25.06.2025 are hereby set aside and quashed, and the detenu is directed to be set at liberty, if not otherwise wanted in any other case.”
Background to the Case
In the viral video recorded during the panchayat campaign, Islam allegedly suggested that the Pahalgam and Pulwama attacks were the handiwork of conspirators seeking to polarise the country. The AIUDF later clarified that these views were personal and not endorsed by the party.
Islam had previously been arrested in 2020 for controversial remarks about the condition of COVID-19 quarantine centres, which he described as “worse than detention centres.”
