The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has quashed the Public Safety Act (PSA) detention of prominent social activist Waqar H. Bhatti from Rajouri district, calling the order “arbitrary” and issued “without application of mind.” Bhatti was released after spending nearly eight months in preventive custody.
Justice M.A. Chowdhary, delivering the judgment, observed that the authorities had violated key constitutional safeguards under Article 22(5) of the Constitution. The court noted that the detaining authority failed to inform Bhatti of his right to challenge the detention order and did not provide him with the complete material on which the detention was based.
Waqar Bhatti, 40, a resident of Saaj village in Thanamandi Tehsil, was detained under Order No. DMR/PSA/01 of 2025, issued on February 21 by the District Magistrate of Rajouri. His detention was challenged through a habeas corpus petition filed by his brother, Ghulam Mustafa Bhatti, before the Jammu High Court.
The District Magistrate cited several FIRs registered between 2018 and 2025, along with a police DDR entry, to justify the detention, claiming Bhatti posed a threat to public order. However, the court found the detention grounds to be a “photocopy of the police dossier,” reflecting a lack of independent application of mind by the authorities.