STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Justice Tashi Rabstan of J&K High Court on Thursday dismissed the petition seeking quashment of Public Safety Act (PSA) by self-styled faith healer Gulzar Ahmad Bhat alias Gulzar Peer.
Justice Tashi Rabstan after hearing Senior Advocate P.N Raina with J.A Hamal Advocate for the detainee while Senior Additional Advocate General (AAG) Waseem Sadiq Nargal for the State, observed that personal liberty is one of the most cherished freedoms, perhaps more important than the other freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution.
It was for this reason that the Founding Fathers enacted the safeguards in Article 22 in the Constitution so as to limit the power of the State to detain a person without trial, which may otherwise pass the test of Article 21, by humanising the harsh authority over individual liberty.
In a democracy governed by the rule of law, the drastic power to detain a person without trial for security of the State and/or maintenance of public order must be strictly construed. However, where individual liberty comes into conflict with an interest of the security of the State or public order then the liberty of the individual must give way to the larger interest of the nation.
These observations have been made by the Supreme Court.
In the present case detainee has been apprehended with arms and ammunition, it was held that such single act warrants an inference that he will repeat his activity in future and, therefore, his detention is necessary to prevent him from indulging in such prejudicial activity.
Justice Tashi Rabstan after hearing the senior AAG WS Nargal, who vehemently opposed the petition further observed J&K Public Safety Act, 1978, is designed for, is to prevent, all these acts that are prejudicial to security of the State or maintenance of public order.
These acts are preceded by a good amount of planning and organisation by the set of people fascinated in tumultuousness.
They are not like ordinary law and order crimes. With these observations Court dismissed the petition.
