JK HC quashes detention of man jailed instead of his namesake

Srinagar, Sep 11 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh High Court has quashed the detention of a man who was jailed instead of his namesake in Anantnag district.

Imtiyaz Ahmad Ganie, a resident of south Kashmir's Anantnag district, was detained after being mistaken for someone else with a similar name.

His preventive detention was quashed by a bench of Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi.

Ganie was placed under preventive detention in April 2024 by the District Magistrate, Anantnag, citing an FIR registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Arms Act, and the Explosives Act.

Authorities had argued his detention was necessary to maintain order during the 2024 general elections.

Upon reviewing the records, the high court found that the FIR did not pertain to Ganie but to Imtiyaz Ahmad Wani. The court stated that the error made the detention illegal and invalid.

Hearing a habeas corpus plea filed by Ganie, Justice Kazmi criticised the detaining authority for "shamelessly" defending the mistake, saying that the order reflected a "clear non-application of mind".

The court, in its order on September 3, said that upon perusal of the record (grounds of detention), it appears that the authorities had intended to detain another individual, "but on account of mistaken identity, the detenue has been detained in his place".

It said the detention record, that forms the basis of the impugned order, suggests that the detaining authority has "failed to apply its mind" to the material placed before it while passing the impugned order, and such lapse goes to the very root of the impugned order.

"Since the non-application of mind on the part of the detaining authority in issuing the impugned order is writ large on the face of the record, therefore, the action taken pursuant to such non-application of mind by the detaining authority cannot be sustained in the eyes of law," the court ruled.

It directed that Ganie be immediate released from Kot Bhalwal Jail in Jammu. PTI SSB ZMN