Supreme Court orders release of law student from preventive detention under National Security Act

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the immediate release of a 24-year-old law student, who had been in preventive detention in Bhopal’s Central Jail for nearly a year under the National Security Act.

The student was detained after a disturbance at a university campus in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul which reportedly occurred after he allegedly clashed with a professor on June 14, 2024, Live Law reported.

The first information report filed in the case included charges pertaining to attempt to murder.

The student surrendered on June 16 and was placed under judicial custody. When he was in jail, the authorities issued a preventive detention order under the National Security Act which kept getting extended every three months, the legal news outlet reported.

The National Security Act allows the Centre or state government to order the detention of a person “with a view to preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the defence of India, the relations with foreign powers, or the security of India”.

It may also order detention to prevent them from acting in any manner prejudicial “to the security of the State”, the “maintenance of public order” or the “maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community”. The police and district magistrates have the power to issue detention orders, subject to approval by the state government within...

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