'Reckless invocation': Madhya Pradesh High Court slams NSA misuse, orders release of 2 brothers

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has quashed the preventive detention of two brothers under the National Security Act (NSA), criticising authorities for using an extraordinary legal measure as though it were part of routine proceedings. The court ordered their immediate release, observing that the detention proposal was processed and approved within a single day without proper application of mind.

In an order dated September 11, uploaded on October 5, the Jabalpur bench said preventive detention had increasingly been used without the level of scrutiny such a serious measure demands.

“Preventive detention, conceived as an extraordinary measure by the framers of our Constitution, has been rendered ordinary with its reckless invocation over the years as if it were available for use even in the ordinary course of proceedings,” the court said.

The bench comprised Justice Vivek Agarwal and Justice Avanindra Kumar Singh.

Court flags haste in detention process

The case concerns Rajendra Thakur and Rajesh Thakur, whose detention was ordered by the Jabalpur collector on January 6 for three months on the grounds that they posed a threat to public order. Their detention was subsequently extended under the NSA, which allows detention without trial for up to 12 months.

The court said Section 3(1) of the NSA requires the competent authority to independently assess whether detention is necessary to prevent activities prejudicial to public order.

“There is no requisite satisfaction recorded by the detaining authority that the detenus are a threat to public order. The haste with which the matter was processed in a single day took away independent exercise of mind,” the bench observed.

Criminal records raised questions

The bench also examined the criminal cases cited against the brothers. They had been named in 14 cases and had been acquitted in 11 when the NSA detention was ordered. The remaining three cases involved allegations relating to an obscene act, hurt and wrongful confinement, and throwing a crude bomb to cause unrest.

The court questioned whether the authorities had been given the correct information before approving the detention.

“This leads to a conclusion that correct facts were not placed before the competent authority,” the order stated.

It further noted that checking the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) would have revealed the brothers’ actual criminal records.

The detention proposal submitted by the Jabalpur superintendent of police and the collector’s order had passed through four officials before being cleared on the same day. The court held that the process failed to demonstrate the independent assessment required before imposing preventive detention and ordered the brothers’ release.