Prayagraj: Terming the passing of preventive detention orders without application of mind and without reference to the grounds of detention as “deplorable”, the Allahabad high court has urged the Union govt to redress the situation at the earliest in the larger interest of the criminal justice delivery system.The court made the observation while quashing the preventive detention of an NDPS accused, holding that the order had been passed mechanically by Mathura authorities without recording cogent reasons.While issuing these directions, a division bench comprising Justice Siddharth and Justice Vinai Kumar Dwivedi allowed a habeas corpus petition filed by Gurmel Singh, an accused in a criminal case registered in Mathura under the provisions of the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988.The court quashed his preventive detention under Section 3(1) of the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988 (PIT NDPS Act) and directed that the petitioner be set at liberty forthwith.The impugned detention order was passed on Jan 2, 2026, when the detenue was already in judicial custody in an NDPS case.The court noted that although the grounds of detention merely stated that the detenue was attempting to secure bail, the detaining authority failed to record any cogent material or subjective satisfaction demonstrating an imminent or real possibility of his release on bail, or explaining why preventive detention was imperative when he was already in judicial custody.The court further observed that the state govt had paid mere lip service to the mandatory requirements of law by mechanically stating that detention was necessary to prevent the petitioner from engaging in illicit trafficking.The court said that the detaining authority must be reasonably satisfied on the basis of cogent material that there is a likelihood of the detenue indulging in criminal activities upon being released from jail.“The ‘reasons to believe’ should be based on reliable material and the real possibility of the detenue misusing his liberty in case of release from jail,” the court observed.The HC noted that, in the present case, the impugned detention order had been passed without application of mind and without reference to any of the grounds of detention.“Such a state of affairs is deplorable and needs to be redressed at the earliest by the Union govt in the larger interest of the criminal justice delivery system,” the court observed in its judgment dated July 31.
