The High Court of Jammu Kashmir quashed the detention of Moulana Abdul Rashid Dawoodi and Moulana Mushtaq Veeri under the Pubic Safety Act on Friday afternoon.
The court has directed the officials to release the duo who were detained in September last year and later lodged at Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu.
Justice Sanjay Dhar and Justice Rajnesh Oswal passed the judgement in the cases of the Kashmiri religious clerics and ordered their release from the jail.
In the order quashing the detention of Moulana Dawoodi, the court observed, when any person is detained in pursuance of an order made under any law providing for preventive detention, the authority making the order shall, as soon as may be, communicate to such person the grounds on which the order has been made and shall afford him the earliest opportunity of making a representation against the order.
The court said “From the aforesaid legal position on the subject, it is clear that non-consideration or an unreasonably belated consideration of the representation tantamounts to non-compliance of Article 22(5) of the Constitution, which in turn renders the detention unsustainable in law.”
“Viewed thus, the petition is allowed and the impugned order of detention is quashed. The detenue is directed to be released from the preventive custody forthwith provided he is not required in connection with any other case,” the judges ordered.
Moulana Abdul Rashid Dawoodi, arguably one of the most popular clerics from the Kashmir valley heads the ‘Tehreek e Sowtul Auliya’ based in Anantnag.
The organization Dawoodi heads also runs a seminary in the south Kashmir district. Originally, a resident of Kulgam, the 49-year-old cleric addressed the Friday gathering Kabamarg, Anantnag.
Mushtaq Ahmed Veeri, a prominent cleric of ‘Jamiat e Ahl e Hadith,’ who addresses the Friday gathering at Jamia Masjid Ahli Hadith in Sherbagh, Anantnag was booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) on the same day.
Justice Rajnesh Oswal while allowing the bail application of Moulana Veeri said “Perusal of the grounds of detention also revealed that the same are vague more particularly in respect of allegations leveled against the petitioner that he was delivering anti national speeches. “No date, month and year of the alleged delivering of anti-national speeches have been mentioned in the grounds of detention,” said the bench.
The present petition is allowed and the detention order No. 64/DMA/PSSA/DET/2022 dated 13.09.2022 passed by District Magistrate, Anantnag is quashed, the order read.
Moulana Mushtaq Veeri was directed to furnish an undertaking before the District Magistrate concerned that the petitioner “will not deliver any hate or anti-national speech on any occasion.”
The petitioner is ordered to be released forthwith, provided he is not required in any other case, the order added.