Srinagar, Feb. 21 -- The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has reiterated that criticism of government policies can't be a ground for placing a person under preventive detention as it quashed the detention of Kashmiri journalist Majid Hyderi under the Public Safety Act (PSA) after 17 months of incarceration.

Hyderi (43), a journalist and TV debater, was arrested on September 15, 2023 in a case related to "defamation and intimidation". When he got bail, the police didn't release him but instead booked him under the PSA on September 16, 2023 maintaining that he "poses a serious threat to national security or public order". Under the PSA, a person can be jailed on the orders of a district magistrate (or deputy commissioner) for a max...