Kochi: The high court has held that denying a person in preventive detention copies of the detention documents, along with the detention order, in a language he understands would violate his fundamental rights.
The court was considering a habeas corpus petition filed by Ayishath Ruksana, Kalandhar’s wife, alleging that he had been in jail since Jan 23. the Kasaragod district police chief submitted a sponsoring report recommending his preventive detention on March 13 While he was in judicial custody. Subsequently, a detention order under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 2007, was issued on May 5. This would violate the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 22(5) of the Constitution.
Proceedings under Kaapa were initiated against Kalandhar after considering six criminal cases in which he was involved, according to the authorities. A bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and S Muralee Krishna issued the ruling while setting aside the detention of Ibrahim Kalandhar, a native of Dakshina Kannada who currently resides in Kasaragod, under Kaapa after he was classified as a ‘known rowdy’. The court agreed with this contention and referred to Supreme Court decisions holding that merely providing an oral explanation, without supplying a translation in a script and language understood by the detenu, would deny him the right to be informed of the grounds of detention and to make a representation against the order.