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Over six months after All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Aminul Islam was detained under the National Security Act, the Gauhati High Court has quashed his detention orders and directed that he be released if not wanted in any other case.
The legislator, who represents Assam’s Dhing constituency, was arrested on April 24 for statements in a political rally suggesting that the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam was a “conspiracy” by the central BJP government. On May 14, he received bail in the case, but the very same day, he was detained under the NSA.
In its judgment issued on Thrusday and released on Friday, a Gauhati High Court Bench of Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Rajesh Mazumdar ruled that the order to detain Islam under the NSA “stands vitiated” owing to an unexplained delay by authorities in dealing with his representation against his detention and to his not being informed of his right to represent to the central government until only after the Centre reminded the state government of the same. A lawyer from the team of Santanu Borthakur, Islam’s counsel, said that the MLA is expected to be released later on Friday.
Islam was arrested on April 24 on charges including BNS section 152, which pertains to “acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”, a charge similar to “sedition” under the IPC. He was the first of 58 people from across Assam who have been arrested in a campaign by the Assam government to “detain Pakistan supporters” after the Pahalgam terror attack.
His detention under the NSA after he was given bail on May 14 was based on an order by the Nagaon DC, citing a report from the district Superintendent of Police that Islam “has been engaging in activities prejudicial to maintenance of public order and the security of the state” and reports on his speech to state that he is “satisfied that the said individual is likely to continue engaging in activities prejudicial to public order and the security of the state”.
Islam had filed a representation against this order on May 23, addressed to the Principal Secretary to the Government of Assam, Home and Political Department, and to the Chairman, Advisory Board for National Security Act, Assam. The court noted that this representation was forwarded to the relevant authorities on June 4, after 12 days had lapsed.
“The affidavits filed by the District Magistrate and the Joint Secretary to the Government of Assam, respectively, do not attempt to explain the delay caused in forwarding the representations to the concerned authorities. It is pertinent to note that the Superintendent of Jail, Nagaon, had forwarded the representations on 23rd May 2025 itself,” states the court in its judgement. It referred to the observation of a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in K M Abdulla Kunhi vs Union of India & Others that, “There is no period prescribed either under the Constitution or under the concerned detention law, within which the representation should be dealt with. The requirement, however, is that there should not be supine indifference, slackness or callous attitude in considering the representation. Any unexplained delay in the disposal of representation would be a breach of the constitutional imperative, and it would render the continued detention impermissible and illegal.”
The court also noted that the MLA had been informed of his right to represent before the Central Government 23 days after he was detained.
“…though the Central Government had received the full report regarding the preventive detention and although it was noticed that the petitioner had not been intimated about his right to represent to the Central Government at least upto 6th June 2025, the concerned authorities deemed it fit to give a closure to the matter only by advising the detaining authority to inform the petitioner of his rights. By the time the advice was given, the petitioner, who was detained on 14.05.2025, had already undergone detention for more than 23 days,” observed the court.
It cited a past judgment made by the court in Konsam Brojen Singh vs State of Manipur & Others that a detenue has the right to be afforded the earliest opportunity of making a representation against the order of detention and that the detaining authority is under constitutional obligation to inform the detenue of this right, the failure to do which “vitiates the detention order made even under the provisions of the National Security Act, 1980”.
“In the present case, there is no explanation for the time consumed by any of the authorities while dealing with the representation filed by the petitioner. Coupled with this, the petitioner was never informed about his right to represent to the detaining authority and further, his right to represent to the Central Government came to be informed to him only after the Central Government had reminded the Additional Secretary to the Government of Assam, with a copy to the District Magistrate, Nagaon,” the judgment said.
Directing that Islam be released, the court further said, “In view of what has been concluded above, the Court does not consider it necessary to go into the other points raised as the Court is satisfied that for the said one reason alone, the detention order stands vitiated and the other issues raised by the petitioner are not required to be examined.”
Earlier this month, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal said that Islam would contest next year’s legislative assembly elections from behind bars if he is not released by then. “Aminul Islam has been in jail for the last eight months. He has been kept in jail with NSA charges as part of a conspiracy. He has done no such offence which merits the NSA. The offence he had been arrested for, he got bail within weeks. After that, he was jailed under the NSA. There is political motivation behind this,” he had said.
