Acts committed as juvenile cannot justify preventive detention after attaining majority: J&K High Court

Observing that the acts allegedly committed by a person while he was a juvenile cannot subsequently be invoked as the foundation for preventive detention under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) after he attains majority, the High Court of Jammu& Kashmir and Ladakh on July 17, 2026, has quashed a detention order.

Justice Sanjay Dhar made the observations while allowing a habeas corpus petition filed by the petitioner challenging Detention Order issued by the District Magistrate, Shopian, placing him under preventive detention.

In 2022, the petitioner, then a minor under 18 years old, was arrested in a case involving terror-related conspiracy allegations in Shopian, but he was subsequently granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board in August 2022. Nearly three years later, on April 28, 2025, the District Magistrate of Shopian issued a preventive detention order against him under the Public Safety Act, alleging he was a terrorist facilitator.

The court observed that “an illegal act committed by a juvenile does not stigmatize his future and likewise, an illegal act committed by a juvenile cannot form basis for issuance of a detention order subsequently, more particularly when the juvenile cannot be detained under the Public Safety Act. Therefore, the detenue could not have been detained under preventive laws for the activities alleged committed by him at the time when he was a juvenile.”

However, because the state failed to show any fresh illegal activities after his 2022 bail release and legally could not base a preventive detention order on offenses committed while he was a juvenile, the High Court of J&K and Ladakh quashed the detention order, ordering his immediate release.