TransparencyAbuse of power & retaliationCourts & justice
J&K High Court quashes Public Safety Act detention of scholar Shafat Maqbool Wani over possession of books, finding 'complete lack of application of mind'
Confidence: Corroborated · 4 sourcesJammu and Kashmir · Oct 12, 2026
Subject of this story
Office of the District Magistrate, Kupwara
Also named
Oversight
High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh
What happened
A district magistrate ordered Shafat Maqbool Wani, an academic scholar, detained under the J&K Public Safety Act on September 13, 2025; his petition said a National Investigation Agency special judge had granted him bail the same day. On September 2, 2026 (reported September 5), Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi quashed the order, holding that possession of books with politically sensitive titles does not justify preventive detention and that invoking it on that basis showed a complete lack of application of mind. The court also noted that some of the books had wrongly been attributed to Wani as their author.
By the numbers (1)
● confirmed by a primary document · ○ reported
Roles
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Detention was ordered September 13, 2025 by the District Magistrate, Kupwara; the High Court quashed it.
1 source
- kashmirobserver.net
Detention ordered September 13, 2025 by District Magistrate Kupwara; High Court quashed it
Sources (4)
Kashmir LifeThe court held that the argument of non-application of mind by the detaining authority therefore carried substance.
LawBeatquashed the preventive detention of Shafat Maqbool Wani
SCC Onlinecomplete lack of application of mind; detaining authority had ignored the bail granted the same date
kashmirobserver.netDetention ordered September 13, 2025 by District Magistrate Kupwara; High Court quashed it
Response
Office of the District Magistrate, Kupwara
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What happened next (0)
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