SRINAGAR, March 17 — The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has overturned the preventive detention of advocate Nazir Ahmad Ronga, former president of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court
Bar Association, directing his immediate release.
Justice Sanjay Dhar, heading the bench, ruled that the detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA) lacked specific evidence.
“The allegations leveled against the petitioner in the grounds of detention are vague, ambiguous, and lacking in material particulars,” the court stated.
The court mentioned that the detention record did not include any intelligence report supporting claims that Ronga continued to hold the same ideology for which he was detained in 2019. “In fact, the record produced before this court does not contain any intelligence report that would go on to show that the petitioner has continued to hold the same ideology,” it added.
It further stated that the grounds of detention appeared general in nature, without detailing any specific role played by him.
“The manner in which the grounds of detention have been formulated clearly reflects non-application of mind. The conclusions and grounds appear general, lacking specific details about the petitioner’s alleged role,” the court mentioned.
The absence of material particulars in the detention order, the court held, violated Article 22(5) of the Constitution, which grants detainees the right to make a representation against their detention.
Ronga
was arrested by Jammu and Kashmir police from his Nishat residence in Srinagar on the night of July 11, 2024. His family was not informed that he was being detained under the PSA. Initially held at Nishat police station, he was later shifted to Kot Bhalwal Jail in Jammu. CCTV footage captured both the police arrival and his detention.
It later came to light that the Srinagar District Magistrate had issued a PSA detention order on July 10, stating that Ronga’s detention was necessary to prevent him from "acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance and security of the State.”
Ronga, who has served multiple terms as the president of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, was among several leaders detained under the PSA in 2019, a day before the abrogation of Article 370, to prevent protests.