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The Gujarat High Court has quashed an order of the Vadodara Police Commissioner for detention of an accused in a communal riot case stating that a “mere disturbance of law and order” is not necessarily sufficient for preventive detention under the Gujarat Prevention of Anti-social Activities Act (PASA).
The accused, identified as Irfan Ibrahim Shaikh, has at least one more offence registered against him besides the September 19 riot that took place outside City Police station over an “AI-generated post” that allegedly “hurt religious sentiments”.
The Division Bench of Justice Ilesh Vora and Justice P M Raval was hearing Shaikh’s petition filed through a representative, challenging the legality and validity of the detention order issued on October 7.
Arguing against the detention order, Shaikh’s advocate submitted that the grounds of detention stated by the Vadodara city police has “no nexus to the public order” but is merely a matter of law and order as the registration of an offence against a person cannot be said to have adverse effect on public order, as per the PASA Act.
Allowing Shaikh’s petition, the oral order of the High Court, issued on Monday, said, “After a careful consideration of the material, we are of the considered view that on the basis of two criminal cases, the authority has wrongly arrived at the subjective satisfaction that the activities of the detenue could be termed to be acting in a manner ‘prejudicial to the maintenance of public order’… In our opinion, the said offences do not have any bearing on the maintenance of public order.”
As per the submission before the court, the grounds of detention of the petitioner were said to be two criminal cases against him of rioting and attempted murder lodged at City Police Station and Panigate police station in Vadodara city on September 19, 2025 and October 25, 2022, respectively. The court order said that the Vadodara city police had alleged that the “activities of the detenue as a dangerous person, affects adversely or are likely to adversely affect the maintenance of public order”. The petitioner has already been granted bail in the two offences, as per the submissions made by his lawyer.
Citing precedents of the Supreme Court, the oral order of the court states, “We are of the considered opinion that the material on record are not sufficient for holding that the alleged activities of the detenue have either affected adversely or likely to affect adversely the maintenance of public order… and therefore, the subjective satisfaction arrived by the detaining authority cannot be said to be legal, valid and in accordance with law…”
Shaikh was among the 54 persons arrested by the Vadodara city police till September 22, in connection with the riot that broke out in the Juni Gadi and Panigate area on September 19 over an AI-generated social media post allegedly hurting “religious sentiments”.
A senior police official of the Vadodara city police told The Indian Express that three of the arrested accused, who had allegedly incited the mob, had been found to have criminal antecedents with two co-accused also booked in cases of attempt to murder, possession firearms and extortion. All three accused, including Shaikh, had been sent to jail under the PASA, citing maintenance of public order.
