Srinagar, Sep 24 :
The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has directed the authorities to refrain from detaining three practising advocates under the Public Safety Act (PSA) in connection with an FIR registered at Police Station Batamaloo, subject to the condition that they are not involved in any other case or crime.
Justice Rajesh Sekhri passed the judgment on September 22, 2026, while disposing of a habeas corpus petition filed by advocates Irfan Akbar Malla, Umar Mushtaq Mir and Jahangir Ahmad Bhat. The petitioners had approached the High Court apprehending that they could be subjected to preventive detention under the PSA on the basis of the FIR.
The case stems from an incident allegedly arising during mediation proceedings connected with a matter under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act before the 4th Additional Munsiff, Srinagar.
According to the petitioners, they were proceeding towards the office of the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) at the District Court Complex, Srinagar, for mediation proceedings when an altercation allegedly took place with the opposite party in the matrimonial dispute.
The advocates alleged that one of them was assaulted during the incident and that a selectively edited video of the episode was subsequently uploaded on social media.
Following the incident, FIR No. 27/2026 was registered at Police Station Batamaloo under Sections 136 and 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The petitioners apprehended that the authorities might invoke the PSA against them solely on the basis of the FIR.
The petitioners, represented by Advocate Saleem Gul, had contended that preventive detention should not be used as a substitute for proceedings under the ordinary criminal law.
The High Court had earlier, on March 31, 2026, restrained the respondents from detaining the petitioners in connection with the FIR without prior permission of the Court. The petitioners were also directed to furnish an undertaking that they would not take the law into their own hands or repeat a similar incident.
In the latest proceedings, the Court noted that the respondents had not filed their response and that the petitioners had also not furnished the undertaking contemplated in the earlier order.
Considering the limited controversy before it, Justice Sekhri disposed of the petition with a specific direction that the respondents shall refrain from detaining the three advocates under the PSA on the basis of FIR No. 27/2026, provided they are not involved in any other case or crime apart from the said FIR.
The judgment was pronounced on September 22, 2026.(KNC)