The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has upheld the preventive detention of a Kupwara resident accused of uploading anti-national content on social media, observing that the material placed before the authorities justified action under the Public Safety Act (PSA).
The order, passed last week by Justice Sanjay Dhar, affirmed the February 2024 detention of Waseem Ahmad Dar, also known as Leepa, which was issued by the district magistrate of Kupwara.
The court noted that the administration relied on reports from multiple agencies, including videos and other content allegedly uploaded by Dar on Facebook, before concluding that his activities posed a security concern.
“It is a case where apprehension of the detaining authority with regard to the alleged activities of the petitioner was based upon the reports received from different agencies, which included videos uploaded by the petitioner on his Facebook account,” Justice Dhar recorded.
The court added that these “anti-national videos/photos/posts/chats” formed the satisfaction for detention “in order to prevent him from indulging in the activities which are prejudicial to the security to the state.”
Under the PSA, authorities can detain individuals for up to two years without trial if they are considered a threat to state security or public order.
Rejecting the argument that the authorities should have proceeded under normal criminal law instead of ordering preventive detention, the court pointed out that there was neither an FIR lodged nor an instance of bail that could be challenged.
“It is to be noted that no FIR has been lodged against the petitioner nor is it a case where the petitioner was on bail. Thus, there was an occasion for the respondents to apply for cancellation of his bail,” Justice Dhar observed, concluding that “there was no occasion for the respondents either to resort to normal criminal law or to seek cancellation of his bail.”
Finding no legal ground to interfere with the decision of the district magistrate, the court dismissed Dar’s challenge to the PSA order.
“The petition lacks merit and is dismissed accordingly,” the judgment stated.
