Scribe Majid Hyderi’s detention quashed: Criticism of govt policies no ground for detention, rules high court
Hyderi (43), a journalist and TV debater, was arrested on September 15, 2023 in a case related to “defamation and intimidation”. When he got bail, the police didn’t release him but instead booked him under the PSA on September 16, 2023 maintaining that he “poses a serious threat to national security or public order”.
The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has reiterated that criticism of government policies can’t be a ground for placing a person under preventive detention as it quashed the detention of Kashmiri journalist Majid Hyderi under the Public Safety Act (PSA) after 17 months of incarceration.
Hyderi (43), a journalist and TV debater, was arrested on September 15, 2023 in a case related to “defamation and intimidation”. When he got bail, the police didn’t release him but instead booked him under the PSA on September 16, 2023 maintaining that he “poses a serious threat to national security or public order”. Under the PSA, a person can be jailed on the orders of a district magistrate (or deputy commissioner) for a maximum of two years without any trial.
Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul, while pronouncing the judgement on Wednesday, quashed Hyderi’s detention order while reiterating a judgement of division bench.
“About the social media postings/reportings, a division bench of this court vide judgement dated November 9, 2024 has held that negative critic towards the policies of the government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir cannot be said to be a ground to be relied upon for placing a person under preventive detention, that too without any specific instance as to how such social media comments had caused any problem much less public order problem to the government,” the judgement mentioned.
“Perusal of the grounds of detention reveals that the grounds are vague and ambiguous, and do not refer to any date, month or year of the activities, which have been attributed to detenu. Detention in preventive custody on the basis of such vague and ambiguous grounds of detention cannot be justified,” Justice Koul said.
The judgement quoted the division bench in connection with another case that detaining a person under the provisions of the PSA is an exercise of executive discretion, seriously infracting the individual’s right under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The judge quoted the government affidavit wherein it was mentioned that Hyderi “advocates for separatist and secessionist ideologies through electronic means and promotes anti-India sentiments”. In response, the court took note of the new stories by Hyderi against separatist leaders like Syed Ali Geelani and Asiya Andrabi.
“Certainly, in the present case there is no cogent explanation coming to fore from perusal of the grounds of detention with reference to the live-link between the prejudicial activities and the purpose of the detention and resultantly the impugned detention order is liable to be quashed,” it added.
