The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Wednesday quashed the detention of independent journalist and television debater Majid Hyderi, who has been held for over 17 months under the Public Safety Act.

The police and Srinagar district administration had alleged that Hyderi disseminated false information in the guise of journalism, and promoted secessionism.

However, Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul said that the grounds for Hyderi’s detention were vague, and did not refer to the date, month and year of the activities attributed to him. “Detention in preventive custody on the basis of such vague and ambiguous grounds of detention cannot be justified,” the judge said.

Hyderi was taken into custody on September 14, 2023, in Srinagar and booked under the Public Safety Act. He is currently lodged in the Kot Bhalwal Jail in the Jammu region.

Before being detained under the Public Safety Act, which permits up to two years of detention without trial, Hyderi faced charges of criminal conspiracy, extortion, spreading false information, and defamation following a complaint by a local journalist.

However, the court said on Wednesday that the detaining authority's reference to Hyderi's 2018 social media comments and news items failed to establish the “live and proximate link” that would justify detention.

The judge said that the generalised grounds in detention order “smack of arbitrariness” and lead to the impression that they were aimed at preventing the journalist from giving a precise rebuttal.

The court also referred to a judgement from 2024, which said that criticism of the Jammu and Kashmir government’s policies “cannot be said to be a ground to be relied upon for placing a person under preventive detention”.

The court noted that Hyderi, who has written against separatists and militants, and his mother, a broadcaster for a government radio station, have both supported India.

However, the detaining authority appeared to be unaware of this information, the judgement said.

“It is very unfortunate that respondents, in their Reply Affidavit, have labeled the detenu as ‘not a peaceful citizen of India’,” the court remarked. “If we treat the detenu, like peace-loving citizens, in such a harsh way…then we will lose ‘peace’ and ‘peace-loving citizens’. Instead of appreciating the detenu, he has been placed under preventive detention”.

Ex-Bar Association chief’s petition dismissed

In a separate case, the High Court dismissed a petition against the detention of advocate Mian Abdul Qayoom, former president of the Kashmir High Court Bar Association, The Hindu reported. Qayoom has been in detention since December 19.

The lawyer had been arrested in August 2019 as well for alleged ties to separatist group Hurriyat Conference. However, he was released in 2020 after his health worsened in custody.

The police have accused him of involvement in the murder of lawyer Babri Qadri in 2020.