Preventive detention by routine exercise of powers must be nipped in bud: Supreme Court

Observing that preventive detention is a draconian measure and any such move based on a capricious or routine exercise of powers must be nipped in the bud, the Supreme Court has set aside a Telangana High Court order rejecting a detenu’s appeal.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud Thursday said the essential concept of preventive detention is that the detention of a person is not to punish him for something he has done but to prevent him from doing it. “Inability on the part of the state’s police machinery to tackle the law-and-order situation should not be an excuse to invoke the jurisdiction of preventive detention,” the bench, also comprising Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, said.

The appellant was arrested under the Telangana Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act of 1986 on the order of the Rachakonda police commissioner  on September 12 last year. Four days later, the Telangana High Court rejected the man’s petition.

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The SC said preventive detention has to be exercised with great care, caution and restraint.

“We are of the view that mere registration of the two FIRs for the alleged offences of robbery etc. could not have been made the basis to invoke the provisions of the Act 1986 for the purpose of preventively detaining the appellant herein on the assumption that he is a ‘GOONDA’ as defined under Section 2(g) of the Act,” it said.