High Court: Childhood Crimes Cannot Be a Ground for Preventive Detention in Adulthood

The High Court of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh ruled that the alleged actions committed by a person before reaching the age of majority cannot be used as a justification for taking them into preventive detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA) after they reach adulthood. Emphasizing that the primary purpose of the juvenile justice system is rehabilitation, the Court decided that a criminal act cannot permanently stigmatize a child and cannot be turned into a ground for detention in later years.

The decision was given following an objection by Zahir Ahmad Mir to the detention order issued by the Shopian District Magistrate. An FIR (First Information Report) had been registered against Mir regarding a plan to attack non-local workers directed by a Pakistan-based handler, during which a weapon was accidentally fired, resulting in the injury of a person. At the time of his arrest, Mir was a child under the age of 18 and had been released on bail by the Juvenile Justice Board.

The Court stated that following his release on bail, there was no evidence or information in the records indicating that Mir had engaged in any new criminal activity. Justice Sanjay Dhar quashed the detention order and ordered the immediate release of the detainee, emphasizing that actions committed during childhood should not haunt a person through preventive detention once they step into adulthood.