Quick Summary: The Bombay High Court canceled the detention order against Dikshant Sapkale, pointing out several mistakes and a year-long delay in carrying out the order. The court also ordered compensation for the wrongful detention.
Dikshant, a 20-year-old laborer from Jalgaon, was detained under a preventive order issued on July 18, 2024. This order was based on supposed criminal activities, but it wasn't given to him until May 23, 2025, after he was released on bail. The court found this delay unreasonable and questioned the authorities' intentions.
"The authorities...held back the order till he came out of custody, so they could immediately take him back," argued Dikshant's lawyer.
The detention order mentioned two criminal cases, one of which Dikshant had no connection to. The authorities said this was a "typing mistake," but the court wasn't convinced. The order relied on unclear private statements and documents provided in English, which Dikshant, who speaks Marathi, couldn't understand.
"Not providing the translation stops the constitutional right of making an effective defense," the court noted.
Judges Vibha Kankanwadi and Hiten S. Venegavkar pointed out the wrong use of preventive detention laws, emphasizing that such measures should be used rarely and only for real threats to public order.
"The detention order...has multiple serious errors," they concluded.
The court ordered the state to pay Dikshant ₹2,00,000 as compensation for his wrongful detention, with the amount to be taken from the salary of the responsible authority.
"This is a clear case where the authorities have misused the preventive detention law," the judgment stated.
The court found that the detention order against Dikshant was unjustified due to errors and delays, and ordered compensation for his wrongful detention.
