Building safeguards – Misuse of detention power renders need to stick to procedure paramount

Source: The post is based on the article “Building safeguards – Misuse of detention power renders need to stick to procedure paramount” published in The Hindu on 12th April 2023.

Syllabus: GS – 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation..

Relevance: About preventive detention cases.

News: Recently, the Supreme Court said that preventive detention laws are a colonial legacy and confer arbitrary powers on the state. This once again mentioned the threats to personal liberty posed by such laws.

What is Preventive Detention?

About preventive detention cases in India

Across the country, the tendency to detain suspects for a year to prevent them from obtaining bail is a pervasive phenomenon. This is leading to widespread misuse of preventive detention provisions.

Tamil Nadu government topped the country (2011-21) in preventive detentions. This is because its ‘Goondas Act’ covers offenders who range from bootleggers, slum grabbers, forest offenders to video pirates, sex offenders and cyber-criminals.

What are the observations of the court on preventive detention cases?

Both the apex court and High Courts have observed a) executives’ failure to adhere to procedural safeguards while dealing with the rights of detainees, b) detention orders are quashed by courts only after several months of detainment. In some cases, the orders are quashed after the full detention period.

What are the various reasons behind the court setting aside preventive detention cases?

Most detentions are ultimately set aside. The most common reason for setting aside detention is that there is an unexplained delay in the disposal of representations.

The other reasons are a) failure to provide proper grounds for detention, b) delay in furnishing them, c) sometimes giving illegible copies of documents and d) invocation of preventive detention laws for trivial reasons from the government.

What should be done to limit preventive detention?

-The court said that “every procedural rigidity, must be followed in entirety by the Government in cases of preventive detention, and every lapse in procedure must give rise to a benefit to the case of the detenu”.

-Though preventive detention is allowed by the Constitution, the government should understand that curbing crime needs efficient policing and speedy trials, and not unfettered power and discretion.