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

Since acts allegedly committed by a person when he was a juvenile cannot subsequently be invoked as a basis for preventive detention under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), after attaining majority, the Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh High Court on 17 July 2026 quashed the detention order.

Justice Sanjay Dhar made his observations while allowing the habeas corpus petition filed by the petitioner challenging the detention order issued by District Magistrate Shopian and his remand.

In 2022, the petitioner, then a minor below 18 years of age, was arrested in a case involving terrorism-related conspiracy charges in Shopian, but was subsequently granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board in August 2022. Almost three years later, on April 28, 2025, the Public Safety District Magistrate of All Shopians issued a terrorist preventive detention order against him, the facilitator.

The court stated that “an illegal act committed by a juvenile does not stigmatize his future, and similarly, an illegal act committed by a juvenile cannot be the basis for the subsequent issuance of a detention order, especially when the juvenile cannot be detained under the Public Safety Act. Thus, the detainee could not be detained under preventive laws for activities that the juvenile committed at the time the juvenile was detained.”

However, since the state had shown no new illegal activities after his release on bail in 2022 and could not legally base the remand order on offenses committed when he was a juvenile, the J&K and Ladakh High Court quashed the detention order and ordered his immediate release.

Published – 20 Jul 2026 15:41 IST