Detained on illegible pages: Kerala High Court frees BJP councillor Sugathan, raps casual KAAPA order

The Kerala High Court has set aside the preventive detention of Thiruvananthapuram BJP councillor R. Sugathan, who had been lodged in Viyyur Central Prison since June under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 2007.

A division bench of Justices Anil K. Narendran and Muralee Krishna S. allowed the petition filed by Sugathan's wife and directed that the order be communicated to the prison superintendent. The court held that the detention order, passed by the District Magistrate on June 8 and confirmed by the government in July, showed a casual approach without proper application of mind.

The bench found that several pages of the material supplied to the detenu were illegible and some were missing, and that representations he submitted had not been considered. Without legible copies of the documents relied upon, the court said, a detenu cannot effectively challenge detention, and claims of substantial compliance did not cure that defect.

Sugathan, councillor for Ward 20 of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, faced seven criminal cases registered at Vattiyoorkavu between 2019 and 2026; six were chargesheeted and pending trial and one was under investigation. Preventive detention, unlike a conviction, rests on an executive assessment of future risk, which is why courts insist on strict procedural safeguards.

The judgment does not decide the underlying criminal cases, which will proceed separately. It decides a narrower and important point: when the state takes away liberty without a trial, it must at minimum give the person the readable record on which that decision rests.

The order is the latest reminder that preventive-detention powers, widely used across India, remain vulnerable in court when paperwork is incomplete or reasons are not recorded with care.