HP HC quashes preventive detention order under PIT NDPS Act against 2 brothers

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh high court has quashed preventive detention orders issued against two brothers from Solan district under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PIT NDPS) Act, 1988, holding that there was no "live and proximate link" between the alleged offences and the detention orders passed nearly a year after the last FIR.A division bench comprising Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Bipin Chander Negi passed the order while allowing two habeas corpus petitions filed by the detainees' family members seeking their immediate release from District Jail Solan.The court noted that the brothers had been detained for three months under orders dated March 11, issued by the additional chief secretary (home). The detention was executed on March 13. The detention orders were based on four FIRs registered against both the brothers under the NDPS Act at Dharampur police station pertaining to recovery of heroin or chitta, and one of the FIRs was common. According to the state, both brothers were involved in narcotics trafficking and had resumed illegal activities after securing bail in these cases.The division bench held that there was no fresh FIR or criminal activity against both the detainees during the intervening one-year period after the last FIR dated March 17, 2025. Therefore, the "live and proximate link" necessary to justify preventive detention had snapped. Relying upon several Supreme Court judgments, including Rekha vs State of Tamil Nadu, the high court held that preventive detention cannot be sustained on mere suspicion or arbitrary assumptions."We are of the considered opinion that apparently, the detaining authority has not even applied its mind to this aspect that two male family members of the family as such are being detained for a period of three months each and this aspect should have been duly noticed when the orders as such were being passed," said the court.Rejecting the state's argument regarding the purchase of vehicles by detainees' family members as an indicator of illegal income, the court said there was no material on record to connect those purchases with the detainees' alleged activities. The court said there was no application of mind whether family members were taxpayers and they had the sources to purchase those vehicles and whether the vehicles were financed or not. Consequently, the court quashed the detention orders and directed that the detainees be released immediately if not required in any other case. MSID: 131202389 413 |