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SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir high court upheld on Thursday the detention of a woman under the Public Safety Act. The woman is accused by government of being an “overground worker (OGW) who had close contact with Musaib Lakhvi, the nephew of Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi”, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind and LeT co-founder.Appellant Shaista Maqbool was detained on April 4, 2023 under Section 8 of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act based on a dossier prepared by the SSP of Bandipora, north Kashmir. She filed a writ petition challenging the detention order, which the HC dismissed on May 23, 2025.In her appeal before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal, Maqbool argued that the grounds of detention did not specify any dates, months, or years of the alleged illegal activities. She contended that the detention order was based on vague allegations and, therefore, could not justify her detention under the PSA. However, the bench ruled that once the detaining authority has satisfied itself based on the material before it, the sufficiency of that material to justify detention under preventive detention law lies beyond the scope of judicial review.The court observed that government had specifically identified the individuals with whom the appellant was allegedly in contact. Therefore, it could not be said that the detention was based on vague or ambiguous grounds. “As such, this contention of the appellant is found to be misconceived,” the bench said.“It needs to be noted that illegal activities attributed to the appellant, as mentioned in the grounds of detention, are not committed in the public gaze but discreetly and furtively, and it is not possible to get concrete evidence to establish the same,” the bench said.
