In Brief
A High Court quashed a preventive detention order passed under the Gujarat Prevention of Anti Social Activities Act, 1985, finding that mere registration of offences under the Prohibition Act cannot establish a nexus with breach of public order. The Court distinguished between 'law and order' (ordinary criminal breaches) and 'public order' (disturbances affecting the community at large). It held that for detention to be justified, material must demonstrate the detenue is a menace to public order affecting society's tempo. Registration of FIRs alone, without evidence of threat to community peace, is insufficient. Ordinary penal laws adequately address such offences, and preventive detention cannot substitute for criminal prosecution.
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