In Brief
A man detained under the National Security Act for allegedly procuring and administering fake Remdesivir injections during the COVID-19 pandemic challenged his detention order. The Supreme Court allowed his appeal and quashed the detention on two procedural grounds: first, the State Government unreasonably delayed considering his representation for nearly two months until after the Advisory Board's report was filed, violating the requirement for expeditious consideration; and second, the Central and State Governments failed to timely communicate the rejection of his representation to him, which violated his constitutional right under Article 22(5). The Court held these procedural safeguards cannot be circumvented, even in preventive detention cases, as they exist to balance the executive's broad detention powers.
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