Court Strikes Down Preventive Detention Order, Grants Freedom to Sexual Offender.


12 February 2025 Criminal Appeals & Suspension of Sentence >> Criminal Law   |   Rape >> Criminal Law  

The petitioner, Ketankumar S/o. Babubhai Parmar, challenged a preventive detention order passed against him on 25.01.2025 by the Police Commissioner, Surat, under the Gujarat Prevention of Anti-social Activities Act, 1985, as a "Sexual Offender." The detention was based on an alleged criminal case involving serious offenses under the IPC and POCSO Act. The petitioner argued that the alleged offenses did not affect public order but merely constituted law and order issues.


 

 

The State contended that the petitioner was a habitual offender whose actions affected society at large, justifying preventive detention. However, the Court found no sufficient material to establish that the petitioner’s activities fell under the definition of a "sexual offender" as per the Act, or that his actions impacted public order. Citing a Supreme Court judgment, the Court emphasized the distinction between "law and order" and "public order," and concluded that the alleged activities did not justify preventive detention.

Thus, the Court quashed the detention order, ruling that the detaining authority's subjective satisfaction was not based on legal grounds, and directed the petitioner’s immediate release if not required in any other case.


Section 323., Indian Penal Code - 1860  

Section 328., Indian Penal Code - 1860  

Section 354., Indian Penal Code - 1860  

Section 376., Indian Penal Code - 1860

Section 377., Indian Penal Code - 1860  

Indian Penal Code, 1860  

Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012  

Gujarat Prevention of Anti-social Activities Act, 1985