HC quashes PSA detention of law student

Jammu, May 3: High Court Saturday quashed the detention order of a law student accused of having links with militants. Nahida Altaf, a student of Dogra Law College Jammu filed a petition, allowed by the Court, that police arrested her and her father on September 2, 2007 on charges of carrying grenades in their Maruti Car. The district magistrate Jammu had passed the detention order under the infamous Public Safety Act. The father-daughter duo was also charged with having links with Hizbul Mujahideen outfit. Justice BA Kirmani after hearing counsels appearing for the petitioner and Additional Advocate General appearing for the state observed that the “grounds of the detention and contents of police challan if accepted do tentatively suggest petitioner’s close association with some released militants, which together with alleged recovery of arms if stretched further only indicates petitioner fanciful flirtation with the idea of some unusual adventure, but the wrong choice of a medium, presumptively attributed to her younger age and lack of exposure misled her into a world where there would be nothing except dust and darkness for her.” The court further observed: “This aspect of the favours creating space for the petitioner to come back and rejoin the life as a useful member of her family and society at large.” The court ordered her immediate release from custody. (JNF)
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