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Mulla Afroz v. Union of India

Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 1067Decided 29 Sept 2026
Criminal Appeal No. 4310 of 2026
Justice Dipankar Datta · Justice Sheel Nagu

Background

Following communal violence during a mosque survey at Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh in November 2024 that left four people dead, the appellant was arrested weeks later on unrelated FIRs, and after being granted bail in one of them, was instead placed under preventive detention by the District Magistrate under the National Security Act. His representations against the detention were rejected, and the Allahabad High Court dismissed his habeas corpus challenge to the detention order.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and set aside both the detention order and the High Court's judgment upholding it. It held that the detaining authority relied on the same material already forming the basis of ongoing criminal prosecutions arising from the same incident, without establishing any genuine, forward-looking necessity to prevent future harm, blurring the line between preventive and punitive detention. The Court reaffirmed that preventive detention is an extraordinary constitutional measure requiring the highest scrutiny, especially where the person is already facing trial on the same facts, and that merely citing multiple pending cases cannot itself justify detention without cogent supporting material. It ordered the appellant's immediate release and imposed ₹10 lakh in costs on the State.

Lesson Learnt

Preventive detention cannot be used as a backdoor way to keep someone in custody once the ordinary criminal process, including bail, has already run its course on the same facts; the detaining authority must show a genuine, independent risk of future harm, not just recycle the criminal case file.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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