Preventive Detention
Judicial Review and Safeguards
Courts in India have developed a substantial jurisprudence on judicial review of preventive detention orders. The key principle is that courts do not examine the sufficiency of the grounds — only whether the grounds disclosed are relevant and have a proximate nexus to the purpose of the detention law. However, procedural violations — failure to communicate grounds within time, failure to constitute an Advisory Board, or reliance on vague or "stale" grounds — make the detention liable to be quashed.
- D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal (1996): SC laid down binding guidelines for arrest and detention (custodial safeguards), applicable across all forms of detention
- Grounds of detention must not be "vague, indefinite, or irrelevant" — landmark principle from Icchu Devi Choraria v. Union of India (1980)
- Detention based on events that occurred months before the order may be "stale" — passage of time weakens the nexus to public order purposes
- The detaining authority cannot rely on materials not supplied to the detainee (right to make an effective representation under Article 22(5))
● Tracked since March 14, 2026 · last seen August 08, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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