J&K High Court stays Single Bench order on compensation to Pulwama resident

Srinagar, June 21: The Division Bench of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has intervened in a significant legal development concerning the detention of Aftab Hussain Dar under the J&K Public Safety Act, staying the compensation order of the Single Bench.

The Bench, comprising Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi, has stayed a judgment by Justice Rahul Bharti, which directed the Union Territory to pay Rs. 2 lakh as compensation to Dar for his unlawful detention.

Justice Bharti had earlier on April 2, 2024, quashed Dar’s preventive detention under the Public Safety Act and ordered compensation, citing grounds that the detention lacked sufficient legal basis. However, upon reviewing the case, the Division Bench cited the original detention report and opted to suspend Justice Bharti’s ruling until further hearings scheduled for July 9, 2024.

“Having considered the original report produced before us which contains the material for grounds of detention, we are inclined to stay the impugned judgment dated 02.04.2024 till next date of hearing. List on 09.07.2024,” the Division Bench said in its order dated June 7.

The case revolves around allegations that Dar provided logistical support to terrorists and shared security forces’ movements with Jaish-e-Muhammad operatives in Rajouri-Pulwama. His father had approached the High Court, arguing that his son’s detention was illegal and arbitrary.

Justice Bharti’s ruling had criticized the District Magistrate’s decision to invoke the Public Safety Act, stating that grounds like “security of the State” no longer suffice under recent amendments. The Single Bench emphasized the fundamental right to personal liberty and ordered Dar’s immediate release from custody.