Authorities Must Clearly Explain Terms Like ‘BNSS’ in Documents Affecting Personal Liberty, Court
Jammu, May 31:
The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has ruled that an ordinary citizen cannot be presumed to understand legal abbreviations used by law enforcement agencies unless their full forms are clearly mentioned in official documents that impact an individual’s rights.
Justice Rahul Bharti made the observation while setting aside a preventive detention order issued under the Public Safety Act (PSA). The Court noted that the grounds of detention repeatedly referred to proceedings under Section 128 of “BNSS” without explaining the abbreviation.
The Court held that a common citizen cannot be expected to know the meaning or full form of “BNSS” unless the authorities and the concerned magistrate explicitly disclose it. The judgment pointed out that the abbreviation referred to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, but this was never mentioned in the detention records.
Justice Bharti observed that while the Court could understand the meaning of the abbreviation, the same understanding could not be attributed to a person facing preventive detention.
The Court also took note of multiple proceedings initiated against the petitioner under Section 128 on January 20, January 26, February 5, and February 21, 2025. It observed that despite the repeated actions within a short period, there was no indication that the proceedings had been pursued to their logical conclusion.
Quashing the detention order, the Court stressed that authorities must ensure clarity, transparency, and fairness while communicating legal grounds that affect a citizen’s fundamental right to personal liberty.(KNC)