HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH AT SRINAGAR WP(Crl) No. 19/2021 Mushtaq Ahmad Sofi ….. Petitioner Through: Mr. Nazir Ahmad Baba, Advocate Vs Union Territory of J&K and others .…. Respondents Through: Mr. Mohsin S. Qadiri, Sr. AAG with Ms. Maha Majeed, Assisting Counsel CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE RAHUL BHARTI, JUDGE ORDER (02.04.2026) 01. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner as well as for the respondents. 02. The institution of this writ petition came to take place on 25.02.2021 whereby the petitioner sought quashment of detention Order No. DMS/PSA/99/2019 dated 20.08.2019 passed by the respondent No. 2 – District Magistrate, Srinagar under the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 in terms whereof the preventive detention of the petitioner was ordered in order to prevent him from acting in a manner prejudicial to the maintenance of Public Order. Sr. No. 14 Regular List 2 WP(Crl) No. 19/2021 03. This Court, in terms of an order dated 26.02.2021, came to take cognizance of the fact that a legal infirmity is attending the impugned detention order on account of not being confirmed by the Government within stipulated time and, thus, came to order stay of execution of said detention order upon the petitioner and it is in this state of proceedings that this writ petition has travelled so far and, thus, awaiting the ritual of disposal. 04. The very fact that more than five years have gone by with the petitioner remaining insulated from suffering any detention pursuant to the impugned detention order is a good enough cause for this Court to quash the impugned detention order, particularly by keeping in consideration the fact that the dossier on the basis whereof Sr. Superintendent of Police (SSP), Srinagar had solicited the preventive detention of the petitioner was submitted on 30.03.2019 and the detention order came to be issued on 20.08.2019 when the concern of the District Police was to secure maintenance of Public Order from the alleged prejudicial activities of the petitioner which had not interested the then District Magistrate, Srinagar for good five months before coming out of slumber with the issuance of detention order thereby making it a classic case that passing of a detention order at 3 WP(Crl) No. 19/2021 the relevant point of time was a matter of mechanical motion and not an application of mind and diligence by the District Magistrate, Srinagar. 05. In view of the aforesaid, impugned detention Order No. DMS/PSA/99/2019 dated 20.08.2019 passed by the respondent No. 2 – District Magistrate, Srinagar is hereby quashed. 06. Disposed of. (RAHUL BHARTI) JUDGE SRINAGAR 02.04.2026 Opinder