In a strongly worded judicial pronouncement, the Supreme Court of India quashed the preventive detention order slapped under the stringent National Security Act against Mulla Afroz in connection with the Sambhal communal disturbances, ordering his immediate release from custody. A judicial bench headed by the Chief Justice observed that district administrative authorities had invoked exceptional preventive detention powers mechanically, without demonstrating any credible nexus to public order breakdown.
Taking grave exception to the arbitrary deprivation of personal liberty, the apex court slapped exemplary costs of ten lakh rupees on the Uttar Pradesh state government, directing that the financial compensation be disbursed directly to the petitioner within four weeks. The bench underscored that statutory executive detention cannot serve as a convenient administrative shortcut to circumvent regular criminal trial procedures and evidentiary scrutiny.
Legal scholars and human rights advocates hailed the judgment as an emphatic reaffirmation of Article 21 constitutional protections against administrative overreach. Civil liberties attorneys noted that the imposition of punitive monetary costs on state authorities establishes a meaningful deterrent against the casual invocation of preventive detention statutes against citizens.
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