Jammu & Kashmir High Court – Srinagar Bench
Mudasir Ahmad Bhat vs Union Territory Of J&K And Others on 12 March, 2026
Author: Rahul Bharti
Bench: Rahul Bharti
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH
AT SRINAGAR
Reserved on : 09.02.2026
Pronounced on : 12 .03.2026
Uploaded on : .03.2026
HCP No. 147/2025
Mudasir Ahmad Bhat
.....Petitioner
Through: Mr. Zamir Abdullah, Advocate with
Mr. Zahir Abdullah, Advocate
Vs
Union Territory of J&K and others
..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Furqan Yaqoob, GA
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAHUL BHARTI, JUDGE
JUDGMENT
01. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner as well
for the respondents. Perused the pleadings i.e. the writ
petition and the annexures therewith as well as the
counter affidavit. Detention record produced from the end
of the respondents by Mr. Furqan Yaqoob, learned GA
also examined.
02. The best opening which adjudication of this case
deserves to be put at first is the ever awakening words of
renowned Scientist Albert Einstein saying that
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“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters
cannot be trusted with the important matters.”
03. Exercise of jurisdiction under the Jammu &
Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 is constitutionally meant
and understood to be very serious jurisdiction which
admits of no carelessness on the part of its handlers at
any stage of but in the present case the respondents No.
1 to 3 are found to be acting in converse to the aforesaid
saying of Mr. Albert Einstein.
04. This is a writ petition under article 226 of the
Constitution of India filed on 27.05.2025 by the
petitioner- Mudasir Ahmad Bhat, acting through his wife
Mst. Shagufta Akhter, thereby seeking a writ of habeas
corpus for quashment of preventive detention which
came to be inflicted upon the petitioner by the
respondent No. 2 – District Magistrate, Pulwama
purportedly acting in exercise of jurisdiction under
section 8 of the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act,
1978 which resulted in curtailment of personal liberty of
the petitioner with effect from 01.05.2025 when the
petitioner came to be allegedly arrested and detained and
HCP No. 147/2025 Page 2 of 15
continues to be so till coming of adjudication of this writ
petition.
05. Sr. Superintendent of Police (SSP), Pulwama, by
virtue of his letter No. CS/PSA/25/25-28 dated
28.04.2025, came to lay a dossier with respect to the
petitioner thereby purportedly projecting before the
respondent No. 2 – District Magistrate, Pulwama alleged
state of activities of and on the part of the petitioner
which were read and reckoned by the District Police as
needed to be checked so as to prevent the petitioner from
disturbing peace and carrying out further anti-national
activities which warrant the preventive detention of the
petitioner under the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety
Act, 1978 purely in the interest of security of the
Country/Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
06. In the dossier, Sr. Superintendent of Police
(SSP), Pulwama came to refer the petitioner working as a
salesman in a tin shop at Main Market, Pulwama and in
his course of working and occupation getting in contact
with anti-national workers, some killed terrorists and
getting himself engaged in subversive/anti-national
activities.
HCP No. 147/2025 Page 3 of 15
07. The petitioner was also referred to be a working
potential OGW of active terrorist, namely, Ehsan-ul-Haq,
providing all logistic support to him as well as to other
terrorists whose floating movements were being observed
in District Pulwama especially in Mitrigam area and
providing them information about movement of Security
Forces.
08. The petitioner was also reported to be luring
young generation to get them engaged in anti-national
activities and to join terrorist rank through his
supporters.
09. In order to check the aforesaid alleged reported
activities of the petitioner, he is said to have been called
by the concerned Police Station twice on 28.02.2025 and
23.04.2025 by reference to authority under section
126/170 of BNSS but despite that the field reports
provided that the petitioner was still providing all sort of
assistance to active (local/FT) terrorists on account of
being highly radicalized and sympathizer to terrorists
having natural tendency to support terrorists engrossed
in making unswerving efforts to influence the gullible
minds of youngsters and make them to support the
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terrorists and terrorist organizations in order to promote
the terrorism by every possible means with an aim to
prepare the youth to join different terrorists folds in order
to strengthen and revive their lost strength which
otherwise has been crippled over past few years to create
uncertainty in Kashmir Valley especially in Pulwama
(Mitrigam area).
10. With aforesaid profiling and caricaturing of the
petitioner in the dossier, Sr. Superintendent of Police
(SSP), Pulwama solicited the preventive detention of the
petitioner by issuance of an order from the respondent
No. 2 – District Magistrate, Pulwama who, in turn on the
basis of purported subjective satisfaction as formulated
in the grounds of detention, came to hold that the
petitioner’s activities run heavily against him and highly
prejudicial to the security of the State thereby warranting
the preventive detention of the petitioner.
11. The respondent No. 2 – District Magistrate,
Pulwama, based upon his subjective satisfaction as
formulated in the grounds of detention, passed detention
order No. 12/DMP/PSA/25 dated 30.04.2025 thereby
ordering the preventive detention of the petitioner and his
HCP No. 147/2025 Page 5 of 15
confinement in District Jail, Udhampur for a period to be
specified by the Government.
12. Co-inciding with issuance of aforesaid detention
order, the respondent No. 2 – District Magistrate,
Pulwama, by virtue of a communication No.
DMP/PSA/25/ 34-36 dated 30.04.2025, meant to
apprise the petitioner about passing of the detention
order against him and his right to file a representation to
the District Magistrate, Pulwama as well as to the
Government.
13. The detention order so issued against the
petitioner came to be executed with alleged arrest of the
petitioner purportedly taking place on 01.05.2025 when
Sub Inspector Mohd. Yousuf, PID No. 911597/EXK of
District Police Line, Pulwama detained the petitioner and
handed over his person to the Superintendent District
Jail, Udhampur on 01.05.2025 itself.
14. The petitioner is said to have been handed over
nine (9) leaves compilation comprising of Copy of warrant
(1 leaf), Notice of detention (1 leaf), Grounds of detention
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(2 leaves), Dossier (2 leaves), Copies of Istegasa (2 leaves),
and Beat Report (1 leaf).
15. In addition, the petitioner is said to have been
read over and explained the contents of grounds of
detention in Urdu as well as Kashmir language which is
said to have been understood by him and also apprised of
his right to make a representation to the Government.
16. The aforesaid detention order so passed by the
respondent No. 2 – District Magistrate, Pulwama came to
be approved by issuance of Govt. Order No. Home/PB-
V/876 of 2025 dated 08.05.2025 and the case referred
to the Advisory Board for its opinion which came to be
tendered on file No. Home/PB-V/207/2025 dated
21.05.2025 with Advisory Board’s finding that the
preventive detention of the petitioner is fully justified.
17. It is at this stage of his detention that the
petitioner had come forward with the present writ petition
filed on 27.05.2025 assailing the exercise of jurisdiction
at the end of the respondent No. 2 – District Magistrate,
Pulwama in subjecting the petitioner to preventive
detention and in this regard in writ petition in para 5,
HCP No. 147/2025 Page 7 of 15
grounds of challenge came to be set out in sub-para (a) to
(x).
18. By virtue of Govt. Order No. Home/PB-V/1053
of 2025 dated 30.05.2025, the Govt. of UT of Jammu &
Kashmir through its Home Department came to lend its
confirmation to the preventive detention Order No.
12/DMP/PSA/25 dated 30.04.2025 of the respondent
No. 2 – District Magistrate, Pulwama, and came to
prescribe six months’ of detention period of the petitioner
with effect from 01.05.2025 to 31.10.2025.
19. The petitioner came to submit a written
representation dated 02.06.2025 thereby seeking
recalling/ revocation of his preventive detention.
20. This representation was duly received and
acknowledged by the Home Department, Govt. of UT of
Jammu & Kashmir against receipt No.
Home/PS/K/25/122 dated 02.06.2025.
21. From the end of the Home Department. Govt. of
UT of Jammu & Kashmir, in terms of communication No.
Home/PBV/207/ 2025 dated 06.06.2025, inputs were
solicited from CID J&K in connection with the
HCP No. 147/2025 Page 8 of 15
consideration of representation of the petitioner so
submitted.
22. In response to aforesaid communication from
the Home Department, Govt. of UT of Jammu & Kashmir,
CID J&K, by virtue of its communication No.
CID/SSP(A)/ BR/3-M/2018/PUL/3983 dated
15.07.2025, came to tender its inputs for facilitating the
Home Department, Govt. of UT of Jammu & Kashmir to
accord consideration to the representation of the
petitioner.
23. Acting upon said inputs from CID J&K, the
Home Department, Govt. of UT of Jammu & Kashmir by
virtue of its communication No. Home/PB-V/207/2025/
(76448645) dated 23.07.2025 came to apprise the
respondent No. 2 – District Magistrate, Pulwama about
the rejection of the petitioner’s representation being
devoid of merit. Copy of this communication was
addressed to the Superintendent District Jail, Udhampur
with a direction to inform the petitioner regarding the
instant disposal of his representation with a further
direction to furnish copy of receipt/acknowledgment of
said disposal duly signed by the petitioner to the
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respondent No. 2 – District Magistrate, Pulwama as being
the detaining authority and the Home Department, Govt.
of UT of Jammu & Kashmir for the purpose of record
without any fail.
24. In response to aforesaid direction of the Home
Department, Govt. of UT of Jammu & Kashmir meant
upon him, the respondent No. 3 – Superintendent
District Jail, Udhampur by virtue of its communication
No. DJU/MS/25/7791-94 dated 25.07.2025 addressed
to the Additional Secretary to Govt. of Jammu &
Kashmir, Home Department came to apprise the
petitioner about the disposal of his representation in
terms of communication No. Home/PB-
V/207/2025/(76448645) dated 23.07.2025.
25. Counter affidavit to this petition came to be filed
from the end of the respondent No. 2 – District
Magistrate, Pulwama on 02.08.2025 whereafter this writ
petition remained pending for hearing.
26. In the course of this pendency, by virtue of
Govt. Order No. Home/PB-V/1950/2025 dated
28.10.2025 the petitioner’s detention period came to be
HCP No. 147/2025 Page 10 of 15
further extended by another six months to last till
30.04.2026.
27. It is aforesaid backdrop that this Court has
come across with the adjudication of this writ petition
when reference made in the very opening para of this
judgment about the words of Albert Einstein come into
play to expose in broad daylight the situation which can
be summed up by observing that the respondents’ right
hand not knowing what left hand is doing.
28. In this regard, this Court’s attention is drawn to
the discordance between the factual reference in the
Dossier of Sr. Superintendent of Police (SSP), Pulwama
and the Grounds of detention formulated by the
respondent No. 2 – District Magistrate, Pulwama.
29. In the Dossier, Sr. Superintendent of Police
(SSP), Pulwama has referred to calling of the petitioner by
a concerned police station twice on 28.02.2025 and
23.04.2025 under section 126/170 BNSS, without
divulging which police station and full form of BNSS
meaning what, but be that as it may, the respondent No.
2 – District Magistrate, Pulwama in his grounds of
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detention refers to two different dates of concerned police
station calling the petitioner under section 126/170
BNSS and said two dates being 28.02.2025 and
23.02.2025.
30. It has bothered least the application of mind on
the part of the respondent No. 2 – District Magistrate,
Pulwama to read very draft of his grounds of detention to
come across with an error that there was no such calling
of the petitioner on 23.02.2025 reported in the dossier of
the Sr. Superintendent of Police (SSP), Pulwama.
31. In very opening para of the writ petition, the
petitioner, acting through his wife, has come up with an
assertion that the Police Station Pulwama, without any
justification and cause, had arrested the petitioner on
22.04.2025 which date at first glance left this Court
speculating as to how the petitioner’s wife could come up
with such a wild un-substantiated averment of petitioner
being arrested on 22.04.2025 whereas the detention
order against the petitioner came to be passed on
30.04.2025 and actual arrest of the petitioner being
reported on 01.05.2025. However, the truth comes
sneaking out from the very correspondence of the
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respondent No. 3 – Superintendent District Jail,
Udhampur which is communication No.
DJU/MS/25/7791-94 dated 25.07.2025 addressed to
the Additional Secretary to Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir,
Home Department wherein the respondent No. 3 –
Superintendent District Jail, Udhampur is on record
saying that the petitioner is lodged in District Jail,
Udhampur with effect from 05.12.2024 meaning thereby
even prior to date 22.04.2025 as asserted by the
petitioner in his writ petition.
32. Very disturbingly, the respondent No. 3 –
Superintendent District Jail, Udhampur refers to the
lodgment of the petitioner in District Jail, Udhampur with
effect from 05.12.2024 under the J&K Public Safety Act,
1978 by reference to the very impugned order of the
respondent No. 2 – District Magistrate, Pulwama which is
Order No. 12/DMP/PSA/25 dated 30.04.2025.
33. Copy of aforesaid communication of the
respondent No. 3 – Superintendent District Jail,
Udhampur was duly addressed to the respondent No. 2 –
District Magistrate, Pulwama as well.
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34. Thus, it occurred to none i.e. Additional
Secretary to Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir, Home
Department as well as the respondent No. 2 – District
Magistrate, Pulwama to bother their attention and
concern by calling upon the respondent No. 3 –
Superintendent District Jail, Udhampur as to on what
basis he came to reflect the fact of petitioner’s lodgment
in Jail with effect from 05.12.2024.
35. The aforesaid scenario only reflects that there is
no one at the end of the respondents bearing alertness
and aliveness to the handling of preventive detention
cases which seem to be left to be attended to by the
subordinate staff at the disposal of Home Department,
Govt. of UT of Jammu & Kashmir as well as District
Magistracy otherwise it is inconceivable that glaring
errors of such nature would have been spared attention
and correction at the end of the respective respondents.
36. This Court is holding back its further
observations to come to a conclusion that the preventive
detention inflicted upon the petitioner is painful and
pinching to the very constitutional sensitivity with which
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preventive detention jurisdiction is supposed to be
exercised and carried out.
37. In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances,
the preventive detention of the petitioner is hereby
declared illegal rendering the impugned detention Order
No. 12/DMP/PSA/25 dated 30.04.2025 passed by the
respondent No. 2 – District Magistrate, Pulwama read
with consequent approval/confirmation/extension orders
passed by the Home Department, UT of Jammu &
Kashmir which are also held and declared to be illegal
and are, accordingly, quashed.
38. The Superintendent District Jail, Udhampur is
directed to restore the petitioner to his personal liberty
forthwith.
39. Disposed of.
(RAHUL BHARTI)
JUDGE
SRINAGAR
12 .03.2026
“Opinder”
Whether the judgment is reportable : Yes / No
Whether the judgment is speaking : Yes / No
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