The Kerala High Court has set aside the preventive detention of Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation Councillor Sugathan R under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 2007 (KAAPA), holding that important procedural safeguards were not followed while passing and continuing the detention order.
A Division Bench of Justice Anil K. Narendran and Justice Muralee Krishna S. delivered the judgment. The petition was filed by Sugathan's wife, Aswathi G R, challenging the detention orders passed by the District Magistrate and the State Government.
Background
Sugathan R had been detained after the authorities classified him as a “known rowdy” under KAAPA. The detention order dated June 8, 2026 relied upon seven criminal cases registered between 2019 and 2026. He was arrested on June 10 and detained at the Central Prison and Correctional Home, Viyyur. The State subsequently confirmed the detention and ordered its continuation for six months.
The defence challenged the detention on several grounds, including the Government's failure to independently consider his representations, deficiencies in the documents supplied to him, failure to properly consider the conditions imposed while granting him anticipatory bail, and incorrect or incomplete recording of important developments in some criminal cases.
The Bench found that the Government had not independently considered two representations submitted by Sugathan on June 12, 2026. Instead, the Government waited for the Advisory Board's opinion. The Court held that consideration by the Government and consideration by the Advisory Board are separate safeguards under Article 22(5) of the Constitution.
The Court observed:
“When a representation is received from the detenue, its independent consideration by the Government is mandated under law.”
The Bench also found that several material documents supplied to Sugathan were either missing or illegible. According to the judgment, pages were missing and several other pages could not be properly read. Since those documents were material to the detention decision, the Court held that their non-supply or illegible supply affected his ability to make an effective representation.
The Court further noted that Sugathan had obtained anticipatory bail in the latest case, but the detention order did not properly examine whether the bail conditions were sufficient to address the apprehension relied upon for preventive detention.
The Bench also found shortcomings in the manner in which the detention order recorded developments in several criminal cases. These included the omission of a counter-case, an incorrectly described bail-cancellation proceeding, the withdrawal of a compounding petition, the extension of time granted for complying with anticipatory bail conditions, and the stay of certain proceedings.
The Court held that the cumulative effect of these omissions showed that the detention order had been issued without proper application of mind.
The Kerala High Court allowed the writ petition and set aside the detention order dated June 8, 2026, the subsequent approval order, and the order continuing Sugathan's detention for six months.
The Court directed the Superintendent of Central Prison and Correctional Home, Viyyur, to release Sugathan R forthwith, if his detention was not required in connection with any other case.
Case Details
Case Title: Aswathi G R v. State of Kerala & Ors.
Case Number: W.P.(Crl.) No. 1269 of 2026
Judges: Justice Anil K. Narendran and Justice Muralee Krishna S.
Decision Date: October 6, 2026 sugathan-r-704678
